Living Shrine
by seilif
Summary: One Body, Two Souls, Three Minds. Naruto's Adventure is just beginning, with a new twist! Re-Uploaded Prologue, story will be changing slightly. Working on the rest of the chapters.
1. Prologue: Revelation

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

– **Prologue – **_Revelations_

A small boy, about seven years old, dressed in green shorts, sandals and a white t-shirt with a spiral design in the center of the stomach stood by himself under the rain. The weather had been the same for the past few days, but he had felt that it had been like that for the past few years. He was shaking profusely, the cold winter weather was approaching and the rains were becoming colder and colder. He stared intently at the deadbolt that securely placed on what was the door to his apartment in the rundown complex he lived in. All his belongings were placed in plastic bags, most of them torn open and ransacked for anything that could serve for anyone's purpose, and left outside, mainly after being thrown out the window.

Tears streamed down his face, but no one could notice as the rain mixed with them.

_'What have I done to deserve this?'_ he asked himself. _'All I wanted was to get a new pair of sandals…'_ as he turned to his feet to look at the old ones that he donned. They were small and noticeably were too tight for the growing child.

The few people that were trying to take cover from the rain and would pass by where the young boy was standing would slow down and snicker at him. He would not pay attention to them; for he had learned to not listen insults and name callings, even though he knew they were said.

_'Demon, problem child, troublemaker, murderer….always the same….why won't anyone help me? Why does everyone hate me? I've never killed anyone before in my life!'_

He turned to one of the now soaked bags and started to go through them. _'I hope it's still here'_ He felt a small smile tug the corner of his eyes as he found a small package that he had wrapped around with an old raggedy quilt. He quickly took several bed covers and with all the strength his little arms could muster, carried them into the forest. He then laid them between two bushes and found some pieces of wood to make a temporary tent. He ran back as fast as he could to where the remains of his belongings were, trying to salvage as much as he could, though, it started getting harder and harder.

His body was getting tired and even he was putting all his effort into making it back to his new makeshift home, he finally collapsed with a small bundle in his arms halfway to the forest, near the jounin training grounds.

The rain kept pouring harder and harder. The small body just lay there, clutching a package in his hands. The wrapping paper was becoming soiled by the mud and loosing its color by the rain, but unconsciously, he tightened the grip. 'So cold...' he thought. 'I don't want it to get ruined…' his tears started to fall down his face. 'The old man gave me this…I can't let it get anymore damaged…' he gritted his teeth and tightened himself into a ball. He used all of his remaining strength and got on his knees. Using his body as a shield from the rain, Naruto covered the small present, trying to protect is as much as he could and trying to avoid further damage to it.

Thunder roared through the heavens and the air crackled with electricity. White blades pierced the skies as lightning traveled from the clouds to the ground below, striking with searing precision to anything that would allow the trip to the solid grounds below faster

White light shone from the clouds as they gave an opening for a new set of lightning bolts to race through the air. Naruto instinctively looked up to see a glistening blade pierce the skies as it traveled on its downward path. Arching his eyebrows, his eyes grew open to shut tightly almost immediately and let out a scream.

The arc of lightning was coming straight to him.

He suddenly noticed that his environment slowed down to the point where he could count the raindrops falling all around him. His attention went back to the bright sword above him, which was still moving, albeit slower. It was then; the air surrounding him stopped its flow. The drops of water became like ice to the touch; the tip of the shining knife about to strike his nose.

His world became Darkness.

A stench of decay and the feel of static electricity circled in the air.

Naruto opened his eyes to see a very intricate sewer design. He was surprised, for he had never been there in his life, though it all seemed strangely familiar. The blonde had no idea how he got there, but he didn't care. Even though he might lose his gift, at least he'd still be alive.

He started walking the water filled ways, making lefts and rights, not knowing were to go, but never stopping to think about it, as is something of someone was pulling him.

He felt he walked for hours; his feet hurt and was getting tired. The boy didn't know how far into the tunnels he had gone into, but he did know one thing. It was better than to be struck by lightning.

His journey finally came to an end. In front of him, there was a large gate. In the center of the gate, was a tag with the kanji for 'seal' written on it.

Adorning the frame of said gate, were multiple runes and kanji, all glowing electric blue. Being mistreated in the academy for the past year, he only managed to pick up reading from asking the Old Man about the finer points of the art, and the occasional study session with him.

"Raikou Fuuin" he said aloud. "Why is there a seal made of electricity on the gates that are already sealed?"

**"The reason that the seal was placed on the already sealed gates; it was to assure that He would not escape****from where He was confined."** a voice sounded in the room, giving off a sense of respect and power. Though calm and assuring, the voice sounded like if thunder was cackling.

As fast as his neck allowed him, the container turned his head around the room, his eyes searching for the source of the voice. "Who's there? Where are...you...?"

Two cerulean eyes manifested itself in the dark corridor behind the trembling blonde. Slowly, the crackling of electricity could be heard as a glowing body of a large weasel came into existence.

Naruto stood in awe, as a giant, six-tailed animal covered in golden fur towered over him.

"**I was once known as the Bolt of Heaven, but you may address me as Raijuu…the Rokubi,"**** the voice** spoke again. **"And I am you."**

Prologue – End

_A/N:_

_Prologue – Spell Checked, Grammar Checked, and Slightly Modified._

_Don't have a Beta, so if you find any mistakes, let me know, and I'll fix it. Thanks._

_-seilif._


	2. Chapter 1, Reacquaintance

**Disclaimer**: I don't _pwn_ naruto.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

Through the smoke could be seen the silouette of a medium-sized four legged animal. The shinobi who summoned it just stood up from the ground and started to walk on the dirt path as he could be heard chatting enjoyingly with the to the summon while the smoke cleared.

"Just like that, huh?" said a boy around the age of 15. A huge smile adorned the teenager, whose long blonde hair reached to his mid back, tied up in a single braid. His sapphire blue eyes were looking forwards to the village that could be seen at a distance. On his forehead, a ninja headband from Kumogakure adorned it.

"Yea, kid. Just like that" a hyperactive voice responded next to him.

Walking down the dirt path to the Hidden Village of Konoha, a young boy dressed in an earth-toned colored vest that reached down to his mid torso. It looked a little frayed near the shoulders, as if the sleeves had been torn off. Bandages were tightly wrapped around his mid section to give him extra support. From his elbows to all the way to his hands, another set of bandages were wrapped to help avoiding dislocation of his joints. He sported chocolate colored slacks that appeared to have been ripped from about a couple of inches below the knees. These were being held up by a thick saddlebrown colored leather belt which was looped into a brick-red back and side protector, which was made from the same chuunin vest material. Bandages were also strapped around the loose ends of the torn slacks and tightly wrapped themselves around the calves and ankles to the bottom of his feet, which sported the standard shinobi sandals. A couple of scroll pouches could be seen on his sides, sown into the red torso guard that was held by the belt. A holster for kunai and other tools was strapped to his right thigh and a single sheath for a longer-than-normal kunai was strapped to his left arm, over his bicep.

He was accompanied by what seemed to be a larger than normal white colored weasel. Said animal was bandaged in a similar fashion to him, with his limbs being covered with white linens and sporting a blue bladed sickle on his back.

"In any case..." responded the blonde "...you should probably head back to where she is, Raien; though, please do me a favor. Give this to Yu-san for me." Naruto pulled a small notebook made with dyed leather flaps as a cover. The silver-colored hide glistened in the sunlight as he kneeled to look for one of the many wild flowers that grew on the road to Konoha. "Aha! Here it is." He said as he plucked a single blue flower from the rest. '_I hope she likes it._', he thought.

Opening the notebook, he flipped through the many written passages that went back and forth between the aforementioned girl and himself; passing many pressed flowers and petals, all of which were blue or lavender colored.

"No problem, boss!" said the weasel with a smirk as he stood on his hind legs and took the notebook on his front paws. He then proceeded to puff out in a cloud of smoke, but not before he gave the ninja a piece of his mind.

"I'll tell Yu_-chan_ that you send her kisses too." Was the last he heard of Raien's mocking voice.

It was too late and he couldn't react. All he could do is look at the small cloud of smoke dissipate in the calm wind that flowed by. A smile crept into the boy's face as he let his thought drift. "Yeah..." he said to himself. "...Yu-chan..."

At the gates of Konoha, a couple of Jounin on guard duty were situated on the eastern gate. At a distance, one of them pointed out the hazy outline of someone that was approaching in their direction. Blonde was the hair color that they made out on the head of the approaching person. They concluded that it was a teenager by the time he had reached the gates.

"State your purpose and please show your paperwork." One of them said. His hitai-ate was used as a bandana and a senbon was in his mouth.

"If you would look at the last page on the papers I just gave you, you'll see my purpose."

The second guard carefully walked behind the first jounin. By noticing the Kumogakure hitai-ate, he knew that the Cloud could be up to something, especially something that could involve the Hyuga. The young kid gave them a big heartwarming smile and proceeded to take from his side pocket, a set of papers. The Jounin took them from his hand and started to flip throught them. It wasn't until he reached the last one where he actually stopped and looked up from the papers and back to the kid.

"Is there something wrong?" the blonde asked.

The jounin stared at him for a moment longer and cleared his throat. "It seems that your paperwork is in order, though it's stated here in your forms that you are also applying for the citizenship of Konoha?"

"That's correct, sir." Sapphire met onyx as both locked their eyes on each other. It took the senbon chewing Jounin a couple of minutes before speaking once again.

"Raido-san..." he spoke "... please escort Uzumaki Naruto to the Hokage..."

The scarred jounin froze in place. His head snapped immediately to the blonde kid who stood in front of the sunglass-wearing jounin. "U-Uzumaki? Uzumaki Naruto? I thought that you had died..."

Naruto turned up to the brown haired Jounin and gave him his trademark smile, while slowly reaching to the back of his nead with his right hand. He started to nervously scratch it as he nervously laughed.

"Hehehehe, well, as you can see, I didn't actually die..." he said. "...and you know what they say, 'What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger!'. So I guess, I don't die that easily" He slowly placed his hand down as he shifted his weight on his feet. He looked back to Raido as he was extending his paperwork back to him. Naruto gladly took them back and placed them away in his makeshift backpack, which consisted of a rolled up piece of cloth that had his belongings inside. Once he was finished, Naruto looked up again and noticed that the scarred jounin looked as if he was waiting for him, because the moment he finished folding, said ninja simply disappeared in a puff of smoke, with Naruto mimicking almost immediately after him.

Naruto leaped onto the rooftops, following quickly the speeding brown-haired man. Jumping from roof to roof, both shinobi crossed town swiftly and silently. Raido would on occasion turn his head back, just to see if the Uzumaki was still following him. "Is there something in my face?" Was one of the questions Naruto asked him, so he just decided that, he was still following, and probably will keep on until they reach their destination.

It took them about ten minutes from the gates to the entrance of the Hokage Tower and non of them broke a sweat. '_How could he keep up with my speed_?' Raido asked himself. '_He doesn't seemed out of breath or anything!_' Naruto just stood in front of the Hokage Tower. His eyes not focused on it, but on the stone monument on the mountain's wall. He stared intently onto the faces of the previous Hokages of the Land of Fire, though his eyes were fixed at the unknown face on the monument.

'_Shodaime, Nidaime, Sandaime, Yondaime...Godaime? It may seem that a lot has happened in the past ten years. I did hear that the Sandaime Hokage had been killed in an invasion, but I didn't know the new Hokage was a woman...but still, I haven't forgotten the promise I made to myself a few years back._' Raising his hand, his open palm reached to the mountain. A serious expression adorned his face. At this distance, this hand looked bigger than the Hokage Monument itself. He made a fist, as he crushed the face of the Yondaime. His hand clenched together, blood started trickling from where his nails dug into his palm. '_It's all your fault, but I still respect you, Yondaime..._'

"..ahem!"

Naruto's thought process was cut short by the scarred ninja's throat clearing, but Naruto wasn't paying that much attention to him. He vaguely heard something about the audience that he had with the Godaime Hokage, and that he was waiting for him. Tearing his eyes from the faces, he stared coldly at Raido's figure as he stood next to a door, his confused stare not failed to be noticed, but flinching for just a moment when seeing his hateful stare. Naruto hastily walked through the door to the Hokage's Tower, leaving Raido to return to his position at the gates of Konoha.

"What I don't understand, Hokage-sama..." spoke a voice coming from a brown haired individual with white, pupiless eyes. "...is why you have allowed the Kyuubi to return to Konoha! The village has finally accepted the fact that the Kyuubi doesn't live here anymore, that he has left and isn't expected to return! Do you understand what kind of uproar this will cause when the word gets on the street about **_IT_** being back?" The agitated Hyuga clenched his fists as his only sign of agitation. His tone of voice always staying stoic and only changing when wanting to emphasize a point. He wanted to make the Hokage understand about the seriousness of the situation, but somehow he knew he was fighting an uphill battle. "If you make me understand why, then I'll reconsider your request."

Cracking her knuckles, the busty blonde in front of the Hyuga stared directly into the patriarch's eyes. She didn't hesitate to state the obviuos, especially after reading the Third's archives regarding the location of the so-called missing jinchuuriki. "Hiashi, please understand that this is the son of a man who sacrificed himself for the safety of the village. You can't ask me to stop the son of the Yondaime to enter the village he has been protecting for the past 10 years." She answered with a smile.

Hyuga Hiashi stood there in silent shock. '_What does she mean by_ '_protecting the village for the past 10 years?_' _He hasn't been here, if that's what she's referring, but_...' "So what if he is the son of the Yondaime, I assure you, Hokage-sama, when the rest of the council finds out about the demon still being alive, you won't find them too lenient compared to me."

"What I'm referring to, Hiashi..." The Godaime's voice turned more serious "...is that even you have been slipping up, even if just a bit..." a smirk appeared in the corner of the Fire Shadow's mouth, only for her to shimmer out of his sight.

"Wha..? Shunshin? What does this..."

With a signature hand seal, Hiashi concentrateted his Chakra to his eyes, activating one of the most impressive Kekkei Genkai in Konoha.

"Byakugan!"

Starting his search on the most surrounding areas, only to stop at the entrance of the Hokage Tower. "There's Tsunade, and he seems to be waiting for someone...could it be?' His eyes focused at the door that opened slowly. The chakra signatures were now coming alive. He slowly started noticing the chakra coils of the people that were located near the entrance of the tower, the chakra levels were becoming more and more noticible. '_As always, the Godaime's is amazing, Raido's as expected but who..._'

Oh no.

The Hyuga Patriarch's face paled when he saw the forhead protector of person that walked through the door. "...Ku...Kumo..gakure..." His shocked face turned quickly into anger as he left the room making haste to the entrace. It didn't take him more than a few seconds, and his face was forced into a frown when he heard the words that iced his own blood while the Hokage bowed solemnly in front of the kid with the Cloud's insignia.

"You have no idea the honor it is to finally meet the _Bolt of Heavens_." The Hokage said as he bowed down. Naruto's shocked expression could be seen clearly, for his blush filled his cheeks.

"Ne, Hokage-sama, you don't have to bow to me, and please, to refer to me as a regular person. I don't enjoy the special treatment that people try to give me just because of who I'm known for. I already told you, even if I am the reincarnation of the Rokubi, I still have my own personality and mentality. He has nothing to do with who or what I am or have become." His trademark grin flashing as big as it could get. The Godaime immediately looked up and stood up from the bow, as she approached the young blonde. "You remind me of my brother, you know that?" she said with a smile

"Ne, Baa-chan..."

A pulsing vein could clearly be seen on the Hokage's forhead. "What do you want, twerp?" she responded, hatred in her speak. '_He's known me for a couple of minutes and he calls me and old woman, geez, his manners remind me of him..._'

"Well, I was just wondering...if my citizenship for Konoha is accepted, could I be able to bring someone into the city?" his voice gradually lowered itself as it neared the end of the sentence, his face started to turn a bit red and his hands twitched just slightly.

Clearly he was nervous.

Looking at the young from Kumo be that nervous, Tsunade perked up an eyebrow, showing interest; "Hmm? What does 'bringing someone else' mean? And who is this someone else?" her eyes narrowing and her face making a dumb smile. "Is it your girlfriend? I didn't know that the Great Bringer of Lightning would lower himself to obtain a mortal partner." her last comment dripped in sarcasm, but it hit the spot. She made Naruto react the way she would have expected of a teenager who had a major crush on someone.

Naruto turned as red as a strawberry.

"I just don't want to be away from Yu-chan." His voice almost wouldn't come out. Tsunade looked pleased. Not only had she managed to make the jinchuuriki blush, but she now had the whole inside scoop on who was in Naruto's love life.

"Well, then, out with it. Who is this _Yu-chan_, I can't have the papers drafted for her if I don't know her name."

"Umm...well...it may be hard to, but I know that she wants to be with me, but we were both skeptical of coming here, because of who we are and what we represent..." this line caught the busty blonde by surprise. '_Who could he be referring to...?'_

"Her name is Yugito Nii, and she houses the Nibi no Nekom..."

"YOU SHALL NOT BRING ANOTHER DEMON INTO THIS TOWN!!!"

A/N: Seilif here. I'm sorry for the delay, but work has been an overkill for me. I have been working from 5am to 11pm for the past three weeks, giving me very little time to work on Living Shrine. I hope y'all like this chapter. Even though it's a small one, it's almost three times bigger than the prologue.

-end

Seilif


	3. Chapter 2, Introductions, Part 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, just this particular story and OCCness…**

(Word is acting up. In the middle of the thing it jumps to double space. I tried fixing it but it doesn't seem to work. Hope you guys don't mind it….-seilif)

Introductions, Part 1

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It was a flash of steel that could be briefly seen on the entrance of the Hokage Tower. A kunai and a no-dachi clashed in the middle of the afternoon sun. Naruto was holding his modified kunai as an ANBU member was forcing himself against the jinchuuriki with his assassin blade. The bear masked ANBU was releasing his killer intent trying to disrupt the defending young shinobi's actions.

"STAND DOWN NOW!" Tsunade's voice rang amongst the area. Many ANBU and Jonin used Shunshin no Jutsu(1) to appear at the scene, only to find the fight that had just started between both ninja. "HE IS APPLYING FOR CITIZENSHIP OF KONOHAGAKURE, AS STATED THAT HE WOULD BY THE THIRD! STAND DOWN OR FACE THE CONSEQUENCES!"

Her voice fell onto deaf ears as the ANBU quickly jumped back, breaking contact from the blond ninja and proceeding to move through several hand seals. Mimicking him, Naruto started going through the seals for his own jutsu, quickly charging up enough chakra that anyone around them could feel it around him. It was then when he was interrupted.

"I won't let you, demon-spawn. Kanashibari no Jutsu! (2)"

Naruto froze in place. His hands stopped on the Rabbit Seal. The ANBU disappeared from place and prepared to strike on the defenseless ninja; his no-dachi making a vertical slash, barely inches from the younger ninja's neck; when a sharp spike in Naruto's chakra made the masked ninja flinch and the sword strike missed his target's neck, only to be lodged into his right shoulder. "But how is this possible? You should be paralyzed!"

Or so the ANBU thought.

"Just because I'm paralyzed, doesn't mean that I didn't complete my jutsu." Came the reply from the Kumo nin. The chakra around Naruto turned a pale yellow color and started to cackle. A smirk appeared on the blond as he muttered some words underneath his breath.

"Raiton: Karada Denryuu (3)."

As he finished muttering the words, the yellow chakra exploded into electricity, which quickly ran through Naruto's skin, through the ANBU's blade and finally, struck him at full force. The current kept on flowing onto the assailant as he screamed in pain. Wave after wave of lightning poured into the ninja's body and each time could be seen as a shock wave ripped through the ANBU's body, tearing through clothes and skin alike, tearing flesh and searing it shut. Naruto's longer-than-average canines were now showing as he was licking them with a sadistic smile with every wave that ripped through the Konoha Nin.

Everyone looked horrified as the yellow chakra turned blue once again and the electricity stopped. The convulsing ANBU was clearly in severe pain as his skin had cauterized scars that were still hissing with the intense heat that was used to close them. The mask that covered the hunter-nin was cracked in many places, showing the lower section of his face and revealing the foam that was coming from his mouth. Naruto's face looked onto the fallen shinobi and quickly turned to a side to rip the sword from his shoulder.

As the bloody metal clanged on the hard floor, many present were astonished as how the wound stopped the flow of the crimson, vital liquid as it slowly let out steam and finally sealing without a trace, as if his skin had never been marred. Quickly, cracking his neck, Naruto raised his right arm, testing the newly healed arm. After a moment of self analyzing, he directed himself to the fallen ANBU.

"Pathetic. You attempt to strike me without justification. Suffer for your insolence, mortal."

Several more ANBU drew their weapons, jonins followed suit, only to be stopped by a hand gesture of the Hokage herself, as she made her way in between of the injured ANBU and the Kumo nin, to completely diagnose the extent of the injuries one of her own shinobi's had received.

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Astonished by the performance of the foreign ninja, Tsunade couldn't help but smile as she was checking up on the wounded ANBU. From the looks Naruto was receiving, she could sense that he was being shown a bit of respect. It's not everyday that a fifteen year old can take out an ANBU, even when said Black Ops Shinobi was on his worst possible moment.

Indeed, as soon as the paperwork was completed, she would have to make him go through a Shinobi Placement Examination. She was confident that with his abilities, he could easily be an upper Chunin to mid Jonin level.

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Her examination on the wounded Black Ops was over in about five minutes. The electric shock caused by Naruto's Karada Denryuu seemed to have been directed to affect mainly the skin of the opponent, which was a very remarkable feat, figuring how electricity tends to exit through the fastest route out of the body once it's struck by it. The proof was on the charred and seared skin, but no actual internal injuries.

'_His control is good' _She thought to herself. _'To be able to create, control, and direct electricity like that… haven't seen that level of chakra manipulation in decades._' "Shizune!

Promptly, the dark haired assistant to the Hokage showed up from behind several shinobi that were gathered around the fallen ANBU and Tsunade.

"Hai, Sensei." Came her apprentice's response.

"Could you please take care of the rest? He just passed out because of the electrical assault on his nervous system. He may have trouble focusing and may experience some headaches for the next few days, but he should return to active duty by the end of the week. Make sure that after he regains consciousness, he's sent to solitary confinement with chakra bonds to prevent him from using any jutsus."

"Hai, Tsunade-sama. Leave everything to me."

Tsunade stood up from her kneeling position and motioned the jinchuriki to follow her. Several stares were sent to her direction as both of them proceeded to enter the Hokage tower, leaving a very stunned group of ninjas and a very perplexed Hyuga elder, asking himself why the boy didn't kill his aggressor.

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A heavily bandaged middle aged man, who appeared to be in his forties without an arm, walked into a pitch black room, he quickly formed half of the Ram seal. A flickering white glow formed over him as he spoke. "And the rumors that we so feared have finally become our works nightmare. What was stated on the Sandaime's Legacy, his last letter to the village of Konoha and the council has finally come to bear truth amongst us. Now the objective and the reason for this meeting is to find the way to solve this new problem at hand..."

As the pale white light shone above the man inside room, several other figures made their presence shown as they slowly appeared in a swirl of leaves, puffs of smoke, or simply shimmering into view. In a matter of a minute and a few seconds, the council had been united to discuss the appearance of the demon that was destined to return to their village.

"What course of action should be taken?" a female voice opened one of the topics at hand.

Slowly, eight other pale lights flickered above each of the council members. Each of them was revealed, one by one:

Aburame Shibi, of the Bug User Clan.

Akimichi Choza, of the Energy Conversion Clan.

Inuzuka Tsume, of the Dog Clan.

Kurama Yakumo of the Genjutsu Specialist Clan.

Nara Shikaku of the Shadow Wielding Clan.

Yamanaka Inoichi of the Mind Controlling Clan.

Five empty seats were still available for a few more minutes. Finally, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu walked into the room and stood side by side. "Hyuga Hiashi is tending with the Hokage. He should join us shortly after we begin." Homura stated.

"So be it." Said Danzo as he turned to look at Homura, who was now standing opposite from him. "We will have him give us his opinion directly regarding the demon brat himself. First, we've had to deal with the defection of the last of the Uchiha's to the traitor Orochimaru, and now we deal once again with the murderous menace that threatens us once more." He said. "Everyone, this council is now in session; speak your mind and we shall come to a vote, though I do believe that we all come to a single conclusion." A sadistic smile adorned the veteran ninja as he finished his statement, confident that everything would go according to the plan he had already informed them about if they had to deal with the brat again in the future.

The council stood silent as each of their members thought carefully how to express their words. It was a good fifteen minutes of silence that was broke by a loud, exasperated sigh coming from the shadow manipulator. "Until we find out exactly what his true purpose of joining the village, we cannot allow for any hostile actions to take place amongst the Sandaime's and now Godaime's charge." Spoke Shikaku. "It would be quite troublesome to indeed misinterpret the reasons and have the Hokage try to disband the Village Council with justified reasons." '_Though it would be the best move, some of these guys are just too troublesome. _'

Several heads could be seen nodding in agreement while Shikaku spoke his thoughts. Danzo and several others of the council dropped their smiles as a frown adorned their visages.

Things apparently were not going according to plan.

"I agree with Nara-dono." Spoke Aburame Shibi. Danzo's head snapped to his direction, he did not like this. "We, of the Aburame Clan had placed much thought to the outcome of this day and have decided that we shall not partake on any offensive measures to disrupt the trust placed on the shoulders of the container. He was spoken highly of by the Sandaime and he even stated that he sent a letter with the information about his heritage and some of the family jutsu scrolls. Uzumaki Naruto shall have an opportunity to prove his loyalty to Konoha."

"YOU MUST NOT TAKE THIS LIGHTLY!!" yelled Koharu. The council turned and looked sharply at her direction. "He is the same demon that assaulted Konoha fifteen years ago! He is still dangerous to us and to the newer generations of shinobi! We just had the chunin exams not three months ago. We can't possibly risk our new shinobi force to this menace!"

"Well, if you put it that way, then yes, you have a point Koharu-san." Came the voice of Yamanaka Inoichi. Koharu's face was brimming with satisfaction. At least someone was heeding her words.

"But he still has to show hostility to any of the people in the village."

Then again, maybe not.

"The words spoken by my fellow Council Members hold truth." The Mind Walker continued talking. "This 'menace' that you claim him to be has still to prove ill wishes against any of us. He deserves a chance. It has been more than ten years since his presence has bothered any of the villagers. There's a possibility that they all forgot his semblance."

More heads nodded to the statements. Danzo and the Hokage's advisors could feel their blood starting to boil. They were actually going to give 'it' a fighting chance to restart his life in the village he destroyed .

The rest of the council spoke their minds. After a couple of hours of deciding the correct course of action, a voting took place and the meeting was finally adjourned. All of them, except for Danzo, Homura, and Koharu voted on giving the keeper of the Kyuubi a second chance, while Kurama Yakumo abstained from voting.

As the council disbanded, only three figures remained motionless in the room. Danzo, Koharu and Homura were seething, knowing that the rest of the council had failed to approach the plan that had been discussed in previous sessions. The three of them watched as the rest filed out of the meeting place, only to be left in their own company. They all stared intently at the seats that were left empty during the meeting, particularly trying to burn one with their stares.

"_Do you wish the extermination of the Kyuubi's container…?_" A whisper was heard in the wind…..

Smiles crept onto the remaining peoples' faces.

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Waiting inside the Hokage's office was a bit boring for someone as hyperactive as the blonde ninja, especially if all you're doing is filling papers with information and signing important documents for the naturalization of a foreign shinobi, and a blood contract swearing his undying allegiance to the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

Several yawns, eye rubbings, and a mountain of papers later, Uzumaki Naruto was officially to be declared a Citizen of Konoha. The Sannin took personal care of the Third's wishes in his last letter to the council and in his letter to herself.

After a few minutes of giving the newly instated shinobi a break, the blonde Sannin looked up from the desk that had the towering amount of papers, which are the kage's bane, to look at the young, bored ninja in front of her.

"Well, Uzumaki Naruto. You are here by officially instated as a shi….."

"Ano, baa-chan…before all of this becomes official, I still need to make one last thing as a shinobi of Kumogakure…" his voice was trembling and by noticing this, Tsunade's fist stopped merely inches from Naruto's face, all because of the name calling, I mean honestly, why would you call a person you just met, old?!

Slowly, her fist returned to her side of the desk and interlocked fingers with her other hand in front of her face. Her playful demeanor was kicking in, thinking it had something to do with this girl from Kumogakure.

"Oh, really, gaki. And what is this thing that you must do?" She taunted him.

"There's a family that was wronged twelve years ago by the actions of the village that took me in. I must apologize to the Hyugas and pay the price of the treason that we have caused against the city of Konoha…" Naruto's voice was subtle, yet a hint of pain was noticed hidden in it. His eyes showed fear and at the same time, determination; and Tsunade noticed this. Her smile was wiped from her face and her semblance became serious. Her hands broke contact with each other and with her right one, she snapped her fingers, signaling her personal ANBU to show themselves in the room.

Two ANBU shinobi, one wearing a cat mask and one sporting a bird mask showed themselves in the room, both standing behind the Hokage herself, looking intently at Naruto. Their eyeless face masks bored into him, as in waiting to make his first and final mistake. "Hai, Hokage-sama." was their answer the moment their puff of smoke finished leaving the atmosphere. The Hokage acknowledged their arrival with a minor hear nodding and spoke to them, her eyesight not leaving Naruto.

"From this moment, until Uzumaki Naruto one comes back into this office, you are to escort him to and back from the Hyuga compound. Nothing is to happen to him, unless he shows any kind of hostile act..." She said. Her tone of voice was steady and clear. The flinch on behalf of the bird masked shinobi was not unnoticed by the group in the office. "If he makes one single violent move, you have the authorization to terminate his life in the spot. Are we clear?"

In unison, the three remaining people agreed. Naruto even referred to her as Hokage-sama. This brought a smile to Tsunade's face.

"Well if you all agree to this, then I want you to go under your code names..."

And Naruto froze; his time seemed to slow down as his thought process began to bring forth the memories of something that was told to him twelve years past...

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**Flashback**

"**You know, gaki, you should use a code name in Kumo, just in case you wouldn't want them to find out who you are. I mean, they may try to have you betray the village that made you who you are."**

The electric hissing voice cackled in the atmosphere. Many a times had Naruto journeyed into his inner self to speak with Raijuu, mainly for training advice and for simple conversing when he had a down time from Kumo's Shinobi Academy, but this particular conversation came to him after he was set on his way to the village of Kumogakure by the former Hokage.

"Why should I change my name? I mean, I'm Uzumaki Naruto of Konoha! The Rokubi in the flesh! If people try and kill me, then they'll suffer the consequen..." a sharp hit on his head was enough to shut him up. Raijuu was looking at him carefully while he looked up with his hands protecting the tender spot he had just been hit on. "WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR?!" Naruto asked angrily. **"Because..."** responded Raijuu with a big sweat drop on the side of his head. **"...even if you are my reincarnation, I can't do anything to help you. You have to train my physical body to be able to handle the techniques that you will learn from me. Yes, you have my exuberant and sunny disposition along with my stamina, but that seems to be the only thing you got as my reincarnation, aside from my golden fur as your hair and my six whisker marks for your physical attributes."**

Naruto was now sitting down cross legged on the grassy floor of the Rokubi's lair. The sewer and water maze was replaced with a large open field that had a light breeze blowing; the sky was filled with thunder clouds with lightning crossing from one formation to the other. Thunder roared in the makeshift heavens above as the young container pondered everything that was told to him.

"So, the only thing that you can do is teach me. I can't draw from your power?" Naruto's question surprised Raijuu, just for a bit.

"**Nope, you've got it all wrong, gaki."** He said with a large smile that **showed the razor sharp teeth that the huge ferret had. In human terms, his smile could easily rival Naruto's. "The power you draw is mine and yours. Remember, we are one. You just have to learn how to channel it correctly. You see..."** the Rokubi's smile shrunk to a smirk. **"...when a demon like one of the bijou is reincarnated into a human, his chakra is human chakra until said being learns to convert it into demonic chakra. Now, it technically won't happen unless you visit a seal master and have him place a seal on you that will allow that to happen, but with your case, it's different..."**

"Nani?" Asked a more and more confused Naruto. "What do you mean that it's different for me?"

The Rokubi's smirk turned into the grin once more. **"You don't have to worry about that right now!"** He said. **"When the time comes for me to show you, you will understand, but for the moment I believe that our new name should be..."**

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"Yashiro…."

Tsunade stopped in the middle of a more concrete set of instructions that she was giving the ANBU members regarding the possible threats that other shinobi and common folk would do if they found out who their mark was. "Who the hell is Yashiro?" She asked. She seemed a bit irritated, but at the same time, the way that he said it.

"I wish to be called Yashiro. Just until I can be sure of the reactions of the people in this town won't try anything against my persona." His eyes lacked the spark that he had when she first met him or during the fight with the rebel ANBU a few hours ago. Something was different with him.

"Why do you wish to be called 'Shrine' then? Why not Yusuke or Kinshi?"

"That is the name that I took when I was located in Kumogakure. Were you not aware that that was my fake name? I thought old man Hokage told you about me?" He asked with a thoughtful face.

Tsunade's eyes became wide as saucers when he finished the sentence. "Y-You mean, that you're _THE_ _Yashiro_? The Lightning Prodigy that was adopted into the village twelve years ago?" Both the ANBU and Tsunade turned to look at him.

"Heh, well..." he placed his hand on the back of his head and started scratching it. "...umm, yea, that's me..."

"Unbelievable. To think that THE Yosugi Yashiro has become a Konoha Shinobi!" Tsunade breathed it in slowly. The rumors of a Lightning Prodigy of a nameless clan were true, but she never imagined that the child would be from Konoha. Both ANBU let out a breath that they didn't even know that they were holding. Seeing the Hokage relax let them too, if not just a bit.

"Well, the reason why I chose the name in particular was not because it was a whim of mine, but because it fully describes what I represent. There's only one person in this world that understands that meaning, and hopefully she'll be able to become a citizen also..." Naruto's eyes became distant.

'_What does he mean by 'what he represents'?'_ Tsunade and the two stoic ANBU asked themselves. "Interesting choice of words…" she responded. "…very well, Yashiro. Please make haste to the Hyuga compound and do not try anything funny. You know that we will assist the Hyuga's in your death if you try and pull something. Dismissed!"

The three shinobi disappeared in a puff of smoke as soon as she had finished speaking.

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Naruto and the two ANBU appeared on top of the Hokage tower. He immediately asked for the location of the Hyuga compound and upon hearing the instructions, he headed out at full speed. Both ANBU tailed him closely behind, very surprised for how fast he was going.

A single tear rolled down the face the Bird-masked shinobi.

'Naruto-kun...'

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1. – Shunshin no Jutsu – Body Flicker Technique

2. - Kanashibari no Jutsu – Temporary Paralysis Technique

3. - Raiton: Karada Denryuu – Lightning Release: Electric Current

**A/N:** Hey guys. It's **-seilif** here again. I finally managed to finish chapter 2 of Living Shrine and I came to the conclusion that I need a Beta. Someone that goes by the name of AtlantisWolf left me a review on the MMdotORG website. He's right on what he said, but I have been asking around NARUTOFORUMSdotCOM for a while (even before he reviewed) but I've yet to receive a reply message if anyone wishes to help out.

If you're interested, send me a PM seilif on either MMdotORG or FFdotNET.

Also, there's going to be main character deaths in this story. Just because Naruto wasn't there all this time, influencing half if not all of the rookie nine with his energy and sunny disposition, means that they all stayed the same as the manga or anime. Unfortunately, this means that the rookie nine are going to be as how I perceive they would be without Naruto's presence. Please don't flame on my decision for making half, if not all of the characters OOC. People can vote on who can die. I'll make up the situation (tho' if you give me a good one, I'll probably use it and give props to who gave me the idea.)

Leave a review if you want to give constructive criticisms. Flames, well, I'll just laugh them off and erase them from the review section. If you don't like, don't read.

-seilif out!


	4. Chapter 3, Introductions, Part 2

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Naruto, though if I come across the rights for it, I vow to not have lame filler episodes when needed. (hey, it's a start…)

Chapter 3, Introductions, Part 2

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The Hyuga Compound. Living quarters of the most powerful shinobi clans left in Konoha. Very renowned for their Doujutsu and their very particular style of fighting. Their Jūken style taijutsu has always been feared because of their combination with the Byakugan and the ability to strike the opponents' tenketsus.

The most powerful Jūken user to date was the head of the family, Hyuga Hiashi. He was only rivaled by his nephew, who was a branch family member and was quickly becoming a favorite in Hiashi's eyes. And speaking of Hiashi; he could be seen in the central training grounds of the compound, fervently striking at several training dummies, placed in different attacking positions. His Byakugan deactivated and his eyes closed, you could see that he was training himself in case he was low on chakra, striking with precision where the chakra points would be. Blue bursts of chakra would flare with each strike that the dummies would receive.

His thoughts were wandering a bit as the chakra flares would strike a bit off target every other hit. Something was troubling and it probably had something to do with that afternoon. _ 'I still don't understand why he didn't kill him…a demon doesn't show compassion…it must be a front! Yes that's what it is! He toys with us to leave us unprepared for a surprise attack that he plans against the village!'_ Strike after strike, flare after the flare, Hiashi seemed to dance amongst the stoic targets. His senses heightened by chakra, his control to deliver the strikes perfectly, but they seemed to continue hitting off their target. _ 'I guess I should stop for the moment. There's too much on my mind and I can't concentrate correctly.'_ He assured himself. _'I should probably let the council know about my suspicions.'_ He proceeded to open his eyes and look around for his refreshments. _'Ah, there they are.'_ He thought.

As he approached one of the benches that held a towel to dry his sweat and a bottle to quench his thirst, a slight rustle of feet could be sensed on the way to his location. He looked up from the bench he had taken a seat and waited for the person to either pass and keep on going or ask to speak with him.

"I really hope it's not for me." He spoke softly to himself. He closed his eyes and raised his head to look upwards. The evening sun was setting in the horizon and the orange streaks of sunlight would gently hit his face from the position he was sitting. He let out a sigh as he opened his eyes once more, flinching just a bit as he got used to the rays of waning light hit his unshielded eyes. "I don't feel like talking to anyone at the moment."

Unlucky for him, the footsteps stopped at the entrance to the training grounds, and the sound of a sliding paper door made him turn towards that direction.

"Pardon the interruption, Hiashi-sama…" came a female voice from the door. "…but there are two ANBU and a blond shinobi by the name of Yosugi Yashiro that seek a mom…"

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!" came the surprised yell from the clan elder. His pale lavender eyes shot open at the sound of the ninja's name and they bore unto the unsuspecting messenger. The young Hyuga branch member was startled at her master's outburst that she had to take a few seconds to regain her composure. "Ano, two ANBU and a boy that goes by the name of Yosu…"

"I know what you said, Shizuka. I apologize for the reaction, but the only Kumo nin that I've seen is…" His eyes widened with the sudden realization of the words that had been just spoken to him. Yosugi Yashiro, a Lightning Prodigy from Kumogakure that was only fifteen years old; known for his mercy against his opponents and his unwillingness to kill unless in utmost necessity, which would most of the time, end in massacres if he chose to take a life. He sighed hard at what he realized that moment.

Today, he had seen the demon brat, Uzumaki Naruto wearing a Kumo headband, immobilize an ANBU with a Raiton jutsu he'd never seen before, and he refused to kill the aggressor when he had the rights to do it. The coincidences were too many to disregard the fact that there was now two ANBU and a Kumo Shinobi in his compound.

"Should I tell them to come at another time? The blond shinobi wishes to speak not only with you, but also with Hinata-sama and Neji-sama."

"Blond?" He asked. "I guess that there are no questions about it." He said with a frown on his face. "Lead them to the meeting room. We have much to discuss. Please send word to Neji and Hinata to meet us as soon as possible.

"Hai, Hiashi-sama, though we would only need to let Neji-sama know about this." Shizuka said.

"And why is that?" Inquired Hiashi.

"Well, because Hinata-sama is one of the ANBU that is escorting the Kumo nin." Responded Shizuka as a matter of fact-ish way. "I shall relay this message to Neji-san, though." she said as she closed the door slowly and allowed her master to absorb all the information that he had just received.

After a few minutes, Hiashi sighed as he stood up and made his way towards the meeting room.

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A pair of lavender eyes stared intently at the back of the blond shinobi that was waiting inside of a large but simple room adorned only with the Leaf symbol on one of the walls, a table big enough for about six people and the respective kneeling mats. The veins bulging around the eyes signified that the Byakugan was activated. Long gone was the ANBU uniform and a pure white silk kimono adorned her slender figure. A pale lavender obi that was around her waist complemented her eyes and her shoulder length hair was picked up in a bun, held by two silver sticks with a blue crystal on the tips.

Her eyes closed as a memory rushed back into her mind….

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Flashback…

The torn earth underneath her feet was charred and smoking after the battle that had taken place on the border that connects the Land of Fire, Land of Rain and Land of Grass. Steam was leaking from the cracks on the heated ground. The marks of a shinobi battle ravaged the land, leaving only a single Konoha ANBU squad standing one side of the field, and a yellow-glowing Kumo nin on the other. Around and between the standing shinobi were charred or maimed corpses of Kusa nins. Tension still filled the air, mainly on behalf of the ANBU squad. The ferocity of the kumo nin was something to be feared, and seeing as how he was still not calmed down, their weapons were still drawn.

The wind blew swiftly as the battlefield cooled itself down from the heated battle that had just taken place on it. The four ANBU were looking at the Kumo nin, for unnatural cracks on his skin spewed a blue electric crackle on random occasions. His long blonde hair was loose and formed jagged patterns down his back. The nails on his hands and feet had grown longer and his teeth had become sharp. The whisker marks that were once covered by a torn face mask were deep and more alive in color. His once sapphire blue eyes became slitted and yellow.

In other words, he looked feral.

"Hotaru-sempai…" came the voice from a tiger-masked nin. "…how are we to proceed in this situation?" His hands still held his no-dachi, pointing slightly in the direction of the cloud's shinobi. "He resembles the Kyuubi brat that disappeared about nine years ago, but that demon had blue eyes, not yellow…" said the shinobi as he turned to face his bird-masked captain.

The captain briefly turned to look at the tiger ANBU. She in turned looked towards the kumo nin. "Lower your weapons…" She said in a low voice. "He is an ally of Konoha. I shall not stand to anyone threatening the new alliance between the Cloud and the Leaf. He has been the liaison between both the villages for the past four years. We don't want to cause a tear in the new founded loyalty between us."

The tiger masked ANBU lowered his weapon slowly, as if questioning his captain's actions. Said action was not left unnoticed. _'I shall have to make him understand why I am captain and not him once we return to Konoha…' _she thought to herself. _'…but first…'_

"Yosugi Yashiro-san, the enemies have been taken care of. Why are you still releasing your killer inte…." In a flash, the blonde shinobi was upon her, not giving Hotaru a chance to react to his movement. His hand reached behind and roughly pushing her behind him as he jumped in front of what seemed to be tree leaves that were falling at an unusual fast rate.

The ANBU noticed the sudden movement on his behalf and quickly pulled out their weapons. As soon as they had, they felt the pain of being impaled and slashed by thousands upon thousands of razor sharp blades and a voice boomed in the tranquil environment: "_Mokuton: Chiruochiba no Mai_". The wounds were fatal, as the majority of their cuts were located on the passages of the arteries with deep strikes and gashes to other vital organs.

They lifelessly limped to the ground while the barrage of leaves continued on its way to the remaining two shinobi. Hotaru was wide eyed under her mask. Tears threatened to flow underneath her mask, but she held them back.

She looked up to the feral shinobi that was in front of her. _'He looks like Kiba-san when he uses his Shikyaku no Jutsu_.'

Yosugi took the brunt of the attack. He held his own ground, preventing the jutsu to affect the prone shinobi. She in turn, was shocked on the speed of the jutsu. Her only reaction was to use her arms for cover and hope for the best.

The wind blew with the force of the jutsu, increasing the power of the razor sharp leaves. She had sensed the charka starting to wane and then completely halt, effectively ending the jutsu. She felt no pain whatsoever _'….which means….'_ She quickly looked up to notice the unmoving shape of the Cloud shinobi.

Silence.

After a few seconds, he let his arms drop and hang to his side. He shifted the weight of his body to his front leg more than on his support leg. His head tilted slightly to the right, moving slowly towards the left as if in search for something. "Oy, I know you're hiding in the trees. Your stench is overwhelming."

Silence ensued.

A smile appeared on Yashiro's face. "Well, if you don't want to come to me……."

Where the last words that Hotaru heard. Instinctively, she activated her Kekkei Genkai and scanned the area. She managed to find the pair as Yashiro impaled the Kusa nin with the claws that had grown from his hands. His lips moved and she focused with her on what he was saying

"…_Hinata-chan, Kusagakure will fall by my hands….."_

She gasped. Her mind raced. How did he know her identity? Why did he know her? Why did he call her Hinata_-chan_? Her head started hurting as long forgotten memories started rushing back to her. A blonde boy with whisker marks on his cheeks…blue eyes….him calling addressing her as Hinata-chan. She wanted to believe that the Kumo nin was him but…

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"HINATA-SAMA!"

Hinata was quickly pulled away from her reminiscing, only to be brought back to reality. Reality with her cousin in front her, his hand on her shoulder, and staring intently into her, trying to understand what she was doing. Hinata, on the other hand, was distant. She noticed her cousin there and simply smiled at him.

Long gone her nervous stutters and hand motions were, but she had turned distant. Broken as she had been since the passing of her mother, she strived to become the head of the house, only to be considered second best by her father. In turn, upon reaching Chunin and Jonin afterwards, she started taking more and more dangerous missions until she applied for ANBU and became captain shortly after. Her father never acknowledged her, so she felt that her life was worthless, never to become any better than what it already was.

Her status as an ANBU Captain had raised a couple of eyebrows inside the Hyuga Complex, being that they never expected such a weak shinobi as Hinata to be worthy of such a position, yet, the truth of the fact was that Hinata had always held back when attacking. Too afraid to hurt anyone else, she didn't want to have anyone go through the pain of loosing someone precious to them, like she lost her mother. Always afraid to cause other's suffering that she had suffered had always made her pulled her punches; until he met "Yashiro" for the first time during one of her Genin missions.

"Are you ready, Hinata-sama?" Asked the Hyuga prodigy.

"Hai, Neji-nii-san." She responded.

Dressed in similar fashion to Hinata, with white robes and a black sash, both awaited the arrival of the Clan Head, which arrived promptly.

They approached the door for the Meeting Room. Hinata and Neji both reached for one of the doors and opened them. Hiashi walked in as the cousins walked past him and closed the doors behind them. They then walked behind Hiashi and waited for further instructions.

Yashiro immediately stood up when the doors opened and gave a sheepish smile the moment the clan figurehead walked in. He bowed to him as he walked passed him, obtaining a brow lift on behalf of the rest of the people that were present. Hiashi continued to walk towards the head of the table and gave the signal for Hinata and Neji to take a seat in their corresponding places, Hinata on his right and Neji to his left. It wasn't until the three had taken a seat that Yashiro raised himself from the bow and spoke.

Hiashi spent a good full minute gauging the blond shinobi that stood in front of him. He examined his posture, his breathing, his eyes, trying to sense nervousness; yet, he found the nin in front of him stoic and awaiting instructions. "State your business, Uzumaki Naruto." He said with a smug grin. If he was planning to stay undercover, his cover had just been blown.

Sighing, Naruto proceeded to talk to the Hyuga's. "Hiashi-sama, Neji-sama…Hinata-ch…sama." The stutter didn't go unnoticed, as the three Hyugas saw him flinch considerably when he was saying the future heir's name. He cleared his throat and continued on with his speech. "The reason for my presence here is to apologize greatly for the attempted kidnapping of the Hyuga Heiress, Hinata Hyuga, twelve years ago…" Everyone froze at the mentioning of the event. The Cloud's attempt to kidnap a three year old Hinata, only to be stopped by Hiashi and having to sacrifice his twin brother for the sake of the clan was something that had always been a sore spot for the proud Konoha clan. Naruto noticed the flinch in Hiashi's demeanor and noticed that Hinata stopped looking at him, while Neji glared with hatred in his eyes and his killer intent focusing on him. "…I come here with an offer…" he said as he slowly raised his left hand to slightly above his head and then pointed into one of his pockets. Instinctively, the three Hyugas activated their Byakugan and focused on the point where his right hand started reaching. It stopped on a scroll and in turned pulled it out. He showed it to the three and placed it on the table. Multiple seals were placed on the green and red scroll. Several were traps, while one was a blood seal. "You have no idea what it took me to convince the Raikage to allow me to present this to you as my own personal means of asking for your forgiveness in behalf of my village, but please understand, that when you unseal this scroll, you have to do it in sacred ground. Like the Hyuga's Graveyard."

The three raised their eyebrows in a mixture of curiosity and disbelief. "What could you possibly give Hiashi-sama that he would think about the forgiveness of Kumo's betrayal?" asked Neji. His voice tainted with poison and hatred.

Naruto looked at him and lowered his face. Their Byakugan still active did not fail to notice the tears that started forming in Naruto's eyes. "I don't have physical scars…" he slowly raised his head and showed them a sheepish smile. A genuine smile. "…yet, I had to endure severe punishment for retrieving that which I am giving you. I never knew what it feels like to lose a brother…" he paused. He looked at the scroll for a couple of seconds before raising his eyes to the clan figure head. "…this scroll, not only contains my blood, but part of Hinata-sama's."

Hiashi immediately stood up enraged. His Byakugan fully activated, ready to attack the one who was claiming to have taken Hyuga Blood to make a seal. "EXPLAIN YOURSELF, BEFORE I AM FORCED TO SEND YOU TO A PREMATURE GRAVE, CLOUD SCUM!" Was Hiashi's response. Both Neji and Hinata were also standing in their advance Jūken stances. Hinata's mind was racing, trying to remember when he took her blood. '_The only possible time…the battle against the Grass nins!'_

"Please, Hiashi-sama. The only reason the scroll has her blood is so that only your blood can open this scroll." Naruto, in turn, bit his thumb and smeared some of his blood on one of the seals of the scroll. "…Hiashi-sama, Hinata-sama, Neji-sama. In this scroll is something I paid with my flesh and blood. I return to you, that which is precious to you, Neji-sama and to you, Hiashi-sama. As I said before, I don't know the pain of loosing a brother, but at least…" he said with a voice that sounded like it was about to crack. "…allow me the opportunity to see how it feels to have a brother returned to his family…."

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**Mokuton: Chiruochiba no Mai**: Wood Release: Dance of the Falling Leaves

**Shikyaku no Jutsu**: Beast Mimicry Technique

A/N: Another chapter completed after more than a month. Things have been a bit hectic around this part of town. Houston likes to make things difficult for working people, but hey, at least I could still upload this.

Anyways, this chapter is dedicated to kai28. If it hadn't been for the few words that he left me, I wouldn't have been inspired to finish this chapter. Thanks a lot man.

I'm still in the need of a beta. If someone is interested, please let me know.

Seilif out.


	5. Chapter 4, Memories

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto…

As the morning sun gave the ground a radiant shower, a lone figure with long and flowing golden orange hair approached the gates of Kumogakure. She stood roughly 5'10'', tall for a girl, yet, smaller than many men. On her, an icy blue tube top covered the black short sleeved shirt that she wore. Her black pants reached down to her calves, not tied by bandages, but instead, fish net stockings reached from under the pant's legs and into the sandals. Her forearms were bandaged up to provide extra joint support when fighting in hand to hand combat. Prayer beads raced up and around her left forearm and around her elbow and wrist. The Cloud headband adorned the forehead of the youth, keeping her bangs away from her slanted, cat-like turquoise eyes; in case the tight, waist long ponytail were to come undone.

She carried with her a silver leather notebook. The black leather string that was used to tie it up rested wrapped around her left hand, like many times before. Her eyes were trailing the horizon in the direction of her destination. "…today I head south…"

The words escaped her mouth as a smile formed on her face. She would be able to see the person she learned to love during the past 10 years…

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_:: Flashback_

As the silver moon rose in the dark skies, a young boy reached the Village Hidden in Clouds, by the hand of a Konoha ANBU. As soon as the pair had reached the outskirts of the village, the ANBU pushed the blonde haired boy forwards, while disappearing in a whirl of leaves. Said five year old was left alone in the moonlight to do the remainder trek to the village. Holding a scroll that was written by the Hokage himself, Naruto walked to the village gates, attentive to his surroundings, trying to absorb the information that composed the new location where he would be spending the rest of his childhood.

Now, as he entered the gates, several Kumogakure citizens and shinobi stared at the five year old as he was stopped by the gate guards, and then taken to the Raikage for the audience that he had.

Turquoise set upon Sapphire as a golden orange haired girl locked eyes with the blonde the moment that he set foot into the audience chamber. The two children smiled at each other and introduced themselves as Uzumaki Naruto from Konoha and Nii Yugito from Kumogakure. Her father, the Raikage, noticed the two kids having their own little conversation on the side and called forth one of his subordinates. He instructed him to take them both to the play room and when they were tired of playing, to take him to his new room in the Raikage's mansion. In the morning, he would instruct Naruto of his new village and his duties to it.

Slowly, throughout the years, Yugito learned of Naruto's true heritage, being the reincarnation of one of the legendary tailed beasts, his fate as a jinchuuriki, and his dream of being able to go back to the village he hails from. In return, Naruto learned that Yugito was a jinchuuriki as well, and that knowledge between both of them up to the most recent day, led them to be inseparable.

_End Flashback ::_

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The breeze was cool to the skin's touch. Some shorter strands of her hair became loose from the ponytail and floated towards the direction the wind was blowing. _'The wind blows south west. This is a good omen…'_ She tested her sandals, made sure they were not too tight, yet not too loose, and jogging out towards the gates. A group of people were waiting for her arrival, and as soon as she got near enough, said group started to disperse, making way for her to continue jogging through them. The people she grew up with were giving her a mixture of a happy yet sad smile. So many fond memories of all of them bombarded Yugito's mind. Her jog slowly became a walk as several of the people approached her to give their good byes, farewells, and good lucks. Hugs and kisses were exchanged whilst tears began to form on the rims of her eyes. As happy that she was to be able to go to her beloved, her old life was going to be left in the village that she was born and raised. She would have to grow accustomed to the traditions of the new village and swear a new allegiance, but at least she knew that even though she wanted to do this, it was also beneficial to her family and friends. By accepting to become one of Naruto's life partners….

'_Life Partner'_ she thought.

The Kumogakure male population had been drastically reduced since the last Great Shinobi War. The laws of Cloud changed due to the fact of loss of ninja and kunoichi. Those who were willing would be able to take more than one wife or more than one husband. Polygamy was a common thing in Kumo and in Kiri. Both had suffered major losses and had implemented the practice of multiple spouses to regain their lost numbers.

'_It's a good thing that I already took away from him something that no one else will…'_ she thought with a naughty smile.

--

_Back in Konohagakure..._

"ATCHOOO! Sniff, someone must me talking about me…" A blonde ninja spoke as he walked out of a tattoo shop. _'Good thing I didn't sneeze in there.'_ He said to himself. Naruto made sure his sandals were ok before he leapt unto the roof tops.

He was told by the current Hokage that he should look for a very specific house in the northern part of Konoha. She failed to give him the actual address, but she had said that he would recognize it when he saw it. He traveled for about 20 minutes on the roofs, until he approached the last street and jumped off.

As his feet landed on the cobblestone road he walked with his hands in his pockets for a dew minutes looking at the houses that were to his left. He stopped near a three story house entrance way when he noticed the plaque on the wall next to the fence and started looking at it, when the female voice of someone calling out 'Kumo' made him turn slowly towards a blonde haired, purple clad figure.

--

After saying good bye too her teammates, Yamanaka Ino was heading back to her apartment complex near the old residence of the Yondime Hokage. Being a newly appointed Jounin allowed for a better income than a Genin or a Chunin, so she had decided to move out of her parent's house and gain a little of independence. She thought of getting a roommate, but voted against it in case she wanted her privacy to be respected always.

She was jumping from rooftop to rooftop all the way from the village square until her destination was a couple of blocks away. It was then when she decided to drop down to the streets and walk the rest of the way.

She landed on the street gracefully in a crouching position. Slowly she straightened her body and finally stood up. She was 4'11" with a long ponytail down to her waist, her purple sleeveless button-up top and short skirt contrasted heavily with her alabaster skin yet went along with her pair of baby blue eyes and the fishnet clothing articles that went on her elbows, knees and shorts, underneath the skirt.

'_Maa..'_ She thought. _'I need a good, hot shower. That last mission was a bit too much on myself.'_ A smile appeared on her face as she started walking towards her new residence, but didn't fail to notice an unknown young man that was walking towards her. Immediately her girl side took place and commenced the scrutinization of a possible match with herself.

'_Hmm…Blonde, long hair in braid; ohh, I like that…hmm…cerulean blue eyes….__he looks like he works out..A LOT….and wait…what are those lines on his face….' _She walked a few more feet to be able to contemplate the marks. _'..they look like….like….whiskers? Hmm, not bad. They make him look a bit animalistic…..'_ Her smile grew a bit more. '_I wonder if I could tame this beast…'_ She asked herself. As the mysterious blonde was finally in talking distance, she took in a big breath and raised her hand to salute him.

'_Well, there's only one way to find out…'_

As she was about to say hi, she abruptly stopped when she noticed the Kumogakure insignia tied around his right upper bicep as he stopped and turned to his left to inspect the name on the wall of the Yondaime's Estate. Immediately she scolded herself for not noticing something as important as to why she had never seen that person her own age in Konoha and the Kumo band around his arm while she was inspecting those perfectly tanned muscles…. _'STOP IT INO! THIS IS NO TIME TO FALL FOR THE LOOKS OF A POTENTIAL THREAT!' _She scolded herself.

A stern look was formed on her face as she lowered her hand and called out to him. "State your name and reason for being in Konoha, Kumo nin. If you fail to have a reason, then I, as a Konoha Jounin, shall have to take you down by force and signal for our ANBU to escort you to a 5x5 cell that could very well be your lifelong residence…" _'Damn it… if he's made it this far in without being detected, I don't even know if I'd be able to take him on, but at least I can distract him and buy enough time…'_

The braided blonde turned from the name of the plaque that he was reading and looked at the person that had spoken to him. He saw a beautiful blonde hair, blue eyed, purple dressed kunoichi that had a very serious look on her face. He noticed that she was looking straight to him and was slowly reaching towards one of her kunai pouches. "Maa…maa…is it custom for Konoha shinobi to attack their own? I guess it won't be hard for me to get used to this place after all…" he said with a grin. He turned to fully face her and pointed with his right thumb to his left bicep. The insignia of Konoha, a Tribal Leaf was tattoed throughout his bicep and part of his shoulder. "My friends call me Yosugi Yashiro. I have just been naturalized as a Konoha Citizen and am in fact waiting to take the qualification tests to place me in as an active duty Shinobi. To what I'm doing here is for this…"

His left hand left his pocket and dangled some keys from his index finger. He approached the gate and pulled one of the keys and placed it in the lock. He was about to turn the key when a kunai whizzed between him and the gate bars and sunk itself a few feet away in the dirt. "That is private property. It used to belong to the Yondaime Hokage, Kazama Arashi. I seriously doubt that those keys are going to open that gate. You probably found them on the ground and want to try your luck." Said the kunoichi.

Naruto gave her a sheepish grin and looked at her. "Maa Ane-chan (sp?). At least allow me to insult your honor before you threaten me. I'm just going into the home the Hokage assigned to me…" he said as he turned the key and click the lock popped open. The gate slowly opened and he proceeded to step inside.

"What do you mean that Tsunade-sama appointed you that house as your new home?" Her interest peaked at the moment by being called 'Ane-chan', she's been called, beautiful, smart, clever, but never sister, and this was coming from a hot blonde guy who apparently had the keys to the Yondaime's living quarters. Cautiosly, she approached the braided shinobi and looked at him crouch down and retrieve the kunai that was embedded to the ground. He twirled it expertly and walked back to where she was standing. He stopped the twirl as he extended his hand and gave her back the weapon handle first. "I believe this is yours, Ms….?"

"Ino. Yamanaka Ino." She said as she took the kunai from him. She then proceeded to shift her weight from one foot to the other and relaxed her standing posture. The hand with the kunai travelled down and placed itself on the hip her weight was on.

'_Yama__…naka….Yamanaka….the flower girl? I can't believe it can be her…' t_he braided shinobi thought to himself. _'I would have never known if I hadn't heard it from her in the first time. I wonder if she would remember me….? What did I used to call her…? Ahh…yeah…'_

Naruto noticed her change of posture and also noticed that the kunai in her hand wasn't there anymore. _'She managed to store her weapon once more without me noticing when she did it. She's good.'_ He told himself. "Well then, if you wish, you can help me explore my new village? It's been a good ten years since I've been back to this place and I have to say, it has grown to be big and prosperous…Kin'iro Hana-Chan (1)…"

"Don't call me that again and cut the sweet talking…" she said with a shade of pink on her cheeks. "…besides that, what do you mean that you haven't been back in over ten years? Did you visit when you where little?" She asked him while taking a couple of steps back_. 'Why did he call me like that….Golden Flower…only one person used to call me like that when we were kids, but…I was told he died…..could it be…?' _

"No, no, not visited…more like left on a journey…" said Naruto. A long forgotten smile crep on his face. It was the kind where shyness and happiness collided to form a sweet and sincere face.

"You…it can't be….."

--

_Entrance of Kumogakure_

Goodbyes were said. The village was slowly moving farther and farther away. Her golden orange hair would sway past her with every breeze that would blow around. Her past was being left behind, yet she kept her head up, looking towards the future.

'_Fire Country, Konohagakure, make way for Yugito Nii!'_ She said as her walk started picking up speed and became a full sprint_. 'At this pace, I'll be able to reach Konoha in four days, maybe less if I use her chakra…'_ A full blown smile was plastered on her face as she started her journey to a new life.

--

Time seemed to hold still as one blonde Kunoichi tried to understand what was going on in front of her and what she had just heard. So many memories were flooding her at once, yet one was dominant over the rest:

_Flashback_

A five year old girl that was curled up in a ball had her head on her knees. The sounds of fists hitting flesh was heard as she covered her ears trying not to pay attention to what was happening. Her sobs were silent as she tried to calm herself down. It didn't work. Every so often she would open her eyes only to see a red liquid slide down her cheeks and arms as the blonde boy who was defending her was taking a very brutal beating by what looked like a red headed teenager.

It all ended in a few minutes, but to her, it lasted hours. The noises stopped, all she heard were her sobs, her breathing and her small beating heart that was running a mile a minute. She didn't want to look, yet she forced herself to remove her head from between her legs and try and face the general direction. Her eyes were bolted shut, and she wanted to open them up, but she couldn't. She jumped and let out a small yelp as she heard the sound of a bag of potatoes hit the ground not too far from where she was laying. Her right side hurt from the rock that she landed on when pushed by the older boy and her clothes were torn from where he forcefully tried to rip them off, yet she forced herself to uncurl and at least crawl on the direction of the thud. Darkness was her world at the moment, for she feared that what she would see if she opened her eyes, so her hands wandered aimlessly on the grass, looking for the person that just took a beating for her.

It was after a few seconds of wandering that her hands came to touch what felt like fingers. She immediately recognized the hand that she was touching and crawled more to the boy's side. His back was facing her, she gathered, as he was sitting down, using his hands to support his either hurt or broken body. She approached more and placed her head between his shoulder blades, her hands encircled his torso and slowly, her world came down in a torrent of tears.

She cried. She cried on his back for what seemed like an eternity for her. She cried so much that her tears dried up and couldn't cry anymore. Her sobs were all that were left and were heard in between his and her shallow breathing.

She felt the fabric that she was pressing move and instinctly, loosened her grip on him. Slowly, the blond took of the blood-stained shirt and continued to act as a mourning stone for the frightened girl.

A sudden move on his behalf startlted, as her weight shifted from her hands, causing her to open her eyes and look for the first time at the bloody mess that her blonde savior was turned into. Her hands bolted to her mouth as she stifled a scream. Her eyes became wide as saucers as she saw the gashes and bruises on his skin and felt the warmth of his bare chest as he turned around and embraced her.

Fabric began to slide on her, as she felt Naruto's torn shirt covered her own ripped clothes. She accepted it and leaned closer. Her hands once again went around the small frame of the kid who took a beating for her and just hugged him as she began to sniffle and silently sob once again.

"Ne, daijobudesuka, Kin'iro Hana-Chan?" asked the frail child as he caringly stroked the broken girl's back. He awaited patiently for an answer as she regained the strength to answer him back.

"Hai, Naruto-kun. A-arigatou."

Swallowing hard, the beaten child spoke once again. "Hana-chan…gomen…but I don't think I'll be here for you again for some time. I have to go away. I don't know why, but I have to. Hokage-ojii-san told me that it's form my safety…"

The blonde girl took it all in and just nodded. She kept silent for the remainder of the afternoon and well into dusk. It wasn't until the sun finished setting that she broke the comfortable silence between them.

"…ise me…."

"Uhh? Nani?"

"Onegaishimasu…promise…promise me that you'll come back one day for me...I don't want to go through this again…promise me that you'll be a knight in shining armor like in the bedtime stories that mama tells me…onegai…"

"I…I promise, Kin'iro Hana-Chan…I promise…"

--

Somewhere in Fire Country

"KAI! (2)" a voice shouted. The multiple layered Genjutsu rippled and faded just enough to let three cloaked figures pass through unharmed and into a dimly lit cave. The walls of stone had been etched in multiple complex seals that seemed to be made by the cracks of the cave_. 'Elemental Seals' _they though in unison._ 'It has been a while since they have been seen…' _ From the center of the seals, a small blue flame irradiated a heatless light that allowed a relatively safe path into the bowels if the earth.

The cavern seemed endless, and it wasn't until an hour of trekking that a difference would be noticed by any of the three. The heatless torches became less and less frequent, yet more and more intense the farther apart they grew from each other. The hallways of stone began to open up to what appeared to be a larger chamber, with an approximate fifty foot radius; with a five foot radius pool of crystal clear water that showed no impurities.

Upon closer inspection, the three walked to the edge of the pool and where marveled at the sight of an ancient oak tree that was upside down, with it's roots growing from the water. The cloaked three looked at each other and each one went to a side of the circle of water and formed an isoceles triangle. They withdrew a couple of kunai and at the same time without a sound being made between them, they slashed their hands and proceeded to let the blood drip into the pool.

As the first drops hit the water, a wave of demonic chakra surged from the water and engulfed the cavern in a powerful blinding light and the sound of wind picking up to hurricane speeds were engulfing the area. The cloaks were ripped off their wearers, revealing the identity of the three ninjas inside the cavern.

"_**Who dares awaken me?"**_ a voice was heard as clear as a whisper amongst the raging winds.

"WE SEEK YOUR HELP! WE WANT YOU TO KILL THE CONTAINER FOR THE KYUUBI!" responded Danzou. His bandages were becoming loose because of the force of the air.

The raging winds died down the moment the Kyuubi's name was mentioned.

"_**Kukukuku…The Kyuubi, you say? I have a score to settle with him…and if he's been sealed, I'll be able to exact my revenge much easier for wounding me all those long years ago…kukukukuku"**_

The three nin just stood in awe as the giant tree formed itself over the water shedding no reflection. Two silver blue glowing eyes appeared over the now golden glowing leaves of the ancient oak.

--

"O..onegai…tell me that it's you….and…you're here to keep your promise….Naruto-kun…."

"…tadaima…"

-----

A/N: Hey guys! Sorry for the long delay on this update. Three jobs at the same time ain't cool, so I've had a hard time updating the story.

I want to apologize on the lack of action, but I have something planned out for the next couple of chapters and also reveal the reason on why the name of Yosugi Yashiro was given to Naruto as his code name.

The story has also taken an interesting twist. I wasn't thinking of it, it just kinda happened. I don't want to turn this into a NaruXHarem, unless you guys want me to. I'll leave it up to voting, but as it stands, it'll probably stay as yugitoXnarutoXino and stay that way.

Also, Character Deaths. I want to kill a couple of 'em. No particular reason, though I do have a death scene planned for whichever dies (doesn't matter who it is), so I need a list of the 3 most hated Naruto chatacters (not counting the main antagonists like Orochimaru or Akatsuki, I already have a plan for them.)

Hope you have a good time reading and leave a review. Flames are tolerated as long as they are constructive criticism.


	6. Chapter 5, Love and Death

Tears were overflowing from the kunoichi's eyes as she slowly walked towards the braided shinobi. She approached him slowly as his face lost his smile. His eyes became downcast and his face took an air of seriousness that she felt a sense of dread creep up her spine.

She extended her arms, her hands reaching for his face. Slowly she touched his face and she smiled between sniffles at the feeling of his warm skin against her hands. Naruto's own reached to Ino's hands and placed them over hers. A slight breeze that moved in some rain clouds over the village and Ino's sniffling was all that could be heard on the empty road in front of the Kazama Estate. It was Naruto who broke the silence.

"Ino-san…I have come back…" he said. "…but I do not know if I can be the person you asked me….for I found someone else in the years that I had left this village…I…I have been raised in ways that may be conflicting with the marriage licenses in Konoha…if you can accept the fact that there is someone else in my life beside you…." Her eyes grew with every word he spoke. _'He found someone else? But why is he telling me this…I waited for him for so long…but…he's not rejecting me…? What does this mean…?_' Her thought pattern began to loose a sense of direction. "…lways thought about you when_…" 'He still thinks about me? So there's still hope that I can do something about it….'_ "…dn't be my only partner…"

"…partner?...as in…a wife….?" Ino immediately removed her hands from his and retracted them to her chest. She placed them over her heart, as in cluthcing at an invisible kunai that was now a source of pain that was threatning to make her burst into an uncontrollable fit of tears. "…you…you're married….?...I've waited for you all this time….you…you promised to come back as my knight…my own knight…he who would always be by my side…." her voice started to loose strength, the last part of her sentence coming out as a whisper. She started trembling for a moment before her legs gave away and she fell to her knees; all the while, grasping at the fabric of her clothes over her heart.

"…you…you…promised…didn't you….Na..Naruto-kun….?" She whispered.

Strong arms hugged her waist from behind as she was on the ground. Naruto sat down with his legs opened behind Ino while she had her eyes closed and embraced her, pulling her close to him. His chin rested on her right shoulder as his arms tightened around her. His head leaned against hers, touching his cheek with her own. She gasped at the sudden contact and tried to get away, but she knew that she didn't want to leave his side. Her struggle was in vain, as Naruto wouldn't let her move.

Ino stopped her ineffective struggling when she felt a wet sensation from her shoulder. She moved her head away from his and turned slowly to the source only to have her heart stopped for a second when she saw the tears falling from Naruto's eyes. "Gomen…Ino-chan…I…I want to be the person that you want me to be….yet I can't at the same time….unless you choose to be my other partner and be able to live with me and someone else…."

"Naruto…"

"Ever since that day, when I protected you from that bully that wanted to hurt you, I knew I should always be by your side, yet, I had to go away. I hated myself for it, and I asked the Hokage to keep an eye out for you until you could defend yourself…." His tears started flowing more and more. His body started shaking uncontrolably, and yet, he held on to her, not showing signs of letting go anytime soon. "…I wanted to give you something on the day that I left, yet I couldn't because of a certain situation that happened in my appartment the day before I left." Hesitantly, his left hand released Ino's waist and made it's way, slowly to his scroll pouches on his vest. He pulled a worn looking scroll from the pocket and placed it on Ino's lap. "That scroll contains that which kept reminding me of you. It was something that I wanted to give you the day after I made that promise…" The same hand that retrieved the scroll reached back to his kunai holster on his leg and pricked himself with one of his blades, drawing blood on the palm of his hand. Ino's eyes widened on the action but wasn't surprised. She had seen blood seals in action before, so she assumed that it was a blood seal.

Naruto held the palm of his hand upwards, closing it just a bit so he could let the blood pool there for just a moment. Steam started to emanate from the blood and it was when Naruto turned his hand around and let it drip onto the scroll, which in turn, glowed red and the bindings on it burned away to ash. Ino's hands immediately flashed through a few seals and green chakra glowed around her left hand. She reached for Naruto's hand, but noticed that the blood had stopped flowing. She cancelled her jutsu and took his hand and inspected it more closely and realized that there was no cut, no gash, not even a scar!

"Na..Naruto…how? Your hand….it's fine….?"

Naruto let out a long drawn out sigh as he continued to talk. "A truth was revealed to me, and at the same time, a curse was set upon my shoulders…" Ino stayed quiet as Naruto spoke. His shaking body, his sobs and his tone of voice let her know that his pain was real, so she let him continue speaking, only moving her hands from her shirt's fabric to over his, on her waist. "...Kin'iro Hana-chan(1), there is something that I must tell you, but only if you can promise me that you will keep this secret under penalty of death…or until I can finally come to terms with it…."

Ino gasped at the sentence and turned around quickly to see him in his eyes. His warm sapphire eyes were now as cold as ice. As hurt as his voice sounded, the seriousness of the situation were reflected through his sight. She nodded slowly as the overcast sky started to release the thunderous roars of lightning in the environment. The air started to pick up speed and the wind commenced howling.

Breaking eye contact and letting out a sigh, Naruto blinked once; blinked twice and re-made eye contact with Ino as he opened his mouth to speak:

"…Ino-chan…my name, my birthname in Konoha is Uzumaki Naruto of the Leaf…but…I am also known as Heaven's Bolt, Yosugi Yashiro of the Cloud…"

This day had made Ino gasp more times than she can remember. It was just full of surprises, as she finds the person she learned to love throughout the years, back and her being between his arms; but know knowing that the same person is a legend in the Land of Lightning, a S-Rank Shinobi in several other countries' Bingo Books was a bit over the top. Her hands made their way to his and gave them a comforting squeeze as her head dropped, letting her chin touch her chest. Her eyes were closed as Naruto kept speaking.

As he felt her hands over his, he felt his courage building once again, and his resolve strengthening. Naruto spoke once again. "…Ino…not only am I Uzumaki Naruto, nor Yosugi Yashiro…the name that was given to me centuries ago…" _'Centuries? What is he saying?'_ she thought.

"…is…"

Naruto was about to reveal his real name, when a blade of lightning ran through the sky towards the ground. As the roar of thunder once again reached the ears of the sitting couple, Naruto immediately released Ino and with a chakra enhanced boost, he jumped towards the sky in the path of the lightning bolt. Ino could only stare to what was happening. She sensed the enormous amount of chakra that surged from Naruto, and she looked up to the sky as the searing blade struck the blond ninja. She felt her tears well up, a knot in her throat form and a scream that she let out in pain of seeing Naruto once again take her place, protecting her from harm; but unfortunately, the thundering roar overcame her own vocal chords and drowned the scream in its wake. The flash of light upon impact went unnoticed by her as she would not look away from the point of impact just above her. She kept her eyes open for Naruto. If he had survived; then she had to help him and she didn't want to lose where he would land…if he landed at all…

If….

The blinding light passed away. The wind's howl started to pick up once again. A few sparks from the bold could be seen falling into the surroundings and causing it to light on fire a few stray dead leaves, twigs, branches, and dead tree stumps in the area. All the while, Ino stared at the figure of a man standing on a current of air and electricity that was emanating from under him, a few feet to the side of where she was. A blonde haired shinobi with his right arm and hand extended to the heavens; with no sign of damage caused by the bolt, just steam emanating from his body, stood unmoving. She stared as she focused more and more on him, noticing the slight changes on his physique. His hair was loose and it obtained an electrical look to it, like lightning that was coming from his head and down to his waist. His eyes slitted and were glowing a serene gold. His hands grew claws and his teeth looked like fangs. The cheek marks, the three whiskers on each side became more alive and deep. All in all, feral; like a wild beast that was ready to kill someone or something.

"…Na...Naruto…how? How are you ok?..." asked Ino, as she instinctively grabbed the unsealed scroll and held on to it as her single lifeline.

"**Ino…"** His voice was off. Along his own, she could hear a second and third voice that mixed with his. **"…you are not safe here…I shall explain everything once I handle the threat that has tried to harm us…"**

As Naruto spoke, an earthquake struck Konoha. The winds picked up more and more and tornados formed on the outskirts. The ponds, lakes and rivers inside the village dropped their temperatures to impossible degrees and froze in a matter of seconds, while making spikes from the rumbling of the earth. The fires that started because of the sparks of the bolt raged into full fires that were slowly going out of control. Rain started to fall in patches, only in certain parts of town, leaving the uncontrolled fires untouched to keep the arson up.

"Naruto! What's going on!? What's happening to you!?" she yelled. The winds almost drowned Ino's voice. The odd weather patterns that were assaulting Konoha were totally unheard of. It was about this moment when civilians and shinobi alike started coming out of their houses, looking for the source of the disasters and trying to evacuate into the mountain shelters, while others who were in range, were staring in awe at the yellow glowing figure over the Yondaime's former living quarters.

Naruto looked around, searching for the source of the erratic weather conditions. He had a gut feeling, but he wasn't sure, so he had to find out, and fast.

'_**Hey kit…'**_ a cackling voice in Naruto's head made itself present.

--

_Naruto's Mindscape__ ()…_

'_Yea, __Raijuu…do you feel that?'_ responded Naruto as he entered his mindscape. The wet sewers had long been replaced by a sphere like world, where a meadow, filled with untamed grass, wild flowers growing on it spread for a couple of miles. At the end of the meadow, a dark and untamed forest started. The forest itself looked like it had been left undisturbed for many a milennia, as the trees and plants looked ancient. As the forest came to an end, a large body of water would engulf the next section of the land, with a couple of islands in the middle and a large active volcano as the main island. And finally after the large lake came to a stop, a large body of sand became the last part of the spheric world. It would extend for a couple of miles before coming in contact with the meadow once more. All in all, Naruto made his inner mindscape his own little planet. Gravity would pull down towards where the ground or the water would be. It had approximately a twenty mile diameter.

In the center of the meadow where Naruto had manifested himself, stood a weasel, towering twenty feet high and a hundred feet long. Golden was the color of its fur and six lightning-shaped tails wagged at his back. **"Naruto…"** it spoke. Naruto stopped and waited as the giant weasel named Raijuu lowered himself to eye level. **"…I believe that what you are about to face is another one of our kind…by the looks of it, the elements that it's controlling it can be no other than…"**

--

_Outside Naruto's Mindscape_

"**GOBI!"** Naruto roared as he yelled the tailed beast's name. Many that had approached the area with most damage near the Yondaime's house that were within earshot range heard the roar. Most of them panicked when the name was yelled. Many ran away, yet many stayed to watch what would happen.

Ino had a small idea of what Naruto was talking about. She had learned little about the tailed beasts when she was asked to do some research by the Godaime Hokage to try and figure out the reason's for Akatsuki's involvement with them. The name of Houkou, the Five Tailed Demon Dog, or Gobi were known to her, but why was the Gobi here? And why was it attacking Naruto?

"**Ino! Run away! Get everyone away from this place!"** Yelled Naruto. Ino snapped her attention once more to the surroundings and realized that she wasn't the only shinobi in the area. Many had shown up and had their weapons drawn, ready to attack anything and everything. She placed the scroll inside her shirt and started to try and convice people to leave but they would ignore her. She started hearing the screams of several, yelling things like 'Demon Spawn' or 'Monster', but she was too distracted to pay attention to who they were directed.

Her effort was in vain. As much as she tried, the crowd refused to leave. She backed up into the place where she was sitting originally and reached into her supply pouch and pulled three soldier pills. Immediately she ate them and felt her chakra grow eightfold. She started running through a familiar set of seals; snake, rabbit, boar, snake, dragon, rat; and by the time she finished she voiced a name that got lost among the winds… "Shingan no Jutsu…(2)" The raw emotions that flooded Ino's mind were what she expected, fear, survival, curiosity, anger, hatred. When the Human Mind is at it's worse, her Shingan no Jutsu, or Mind's Eye Technique would allow her to percieve anyone and everyone around her. She had developed this technique one day as a chuunin, and by combining it with her Shinranshin no Jutsu and a few Soldier Pills, the number of targets that she could affect and control made her an excellent Battlefield Control/Support Nin.

'_I can now sense them all…__except Naruto? Why is his mind unavailable to me?'_ she thought. _'It matters not. I'll ask him later. For fow, to make THEM leave…'_ "Tajuu Shinranshin no Jutsu! (3)"

Upon settling on the unique hand seal, blond kunoichi felt the strain of her jutsus take effect, draining almost all of her chakra. All those that she could percieve started to move out of their own control and began to run away, not understanding what was going on. She stayed immobile for a few seconds and after making sure that most of the population were scared and trying to run away from whatever was trying to control them, she lowered her control little by little; giving them the sensation that they could try and break free of the control; and once their thought were only for survival, she released her jutsu, allowing them to flee for dear life.

Her knees were wobbly and her hands were shaking from the strain. She looked up once more before she whispered something inaudible to the raging windstorm. A tear fell from Ino's eyes and was violently swept up to the heavens. She stepped backwards and was embraced by the person her eyes were locked on. **"Ino-chan, my Kin'iro Hana-chan…I won't die here…thank you…and…"**

A burst of chakra, a sense of nausea, and a moment to regain her composture later, she noticed that she was now on top of the Hokage monument, still held in the embrace of the blonde. She looked at the direction where she was and noticed the golden glow of Naruto's chakra. **"…I love you too…."** Her head snapped back to the person that was holding her, but only managed to get the whiff of chakra smoke that came from behind her. Tears flowed freely from her eyes and a sorrowful scream of his name invaded her throat as all she could do now was watch from a relatively safe distance….

--

_Back with Naruto_

As the memories of the clone invaded Naruto's mind, his focus returned once more to the problem at hand. The source of the demonic chakra was coming from his left, it was close…too close for him to be able to take it someplace else. The trong currents that were keeping him suspended in the air slowly decreased, allowing him to touch the ground once more. The demonic presence that was causing the weather inched iself litte by little, one foot at a time. Naruto looked in the direction and fell into a unique Taijutsu stance, one he had picked up a while back.

The towering beast, more than twenty stories high, possessed five tails, each one actively glowing a different color, Brown for Earth, Red for Fire, Green for Wind, Blue for Water, Yellow for Lightning. Walking on its four legs, the gigantic canine known as Houkou, the Five Tailed Demon Dog appeared with all it's demonic glory. His white fur glistened with every lightning bolt he commanded to strike the land and the flames of the raging fires were causing it to look a menacing golden orange. His eyes shone maliciously as he intently looked at the lone blonde figure that stood on a cobblestone road, staring back with anger in his eyes. The Gobi licked its lips with his tongue as he spoke.

"_**Kukukukuku…so…THIS is the container for the Kyuubi…kukukuku…I will enjoy ripping you to shreds boy."**_ He snarled as he bared his fangs. Naruto, on the other hand, grinned widely, bearing his own back at the Gobi before concentrating and pulling a strange orange chakra; and finally, unleashing a mixture of two Killer Intents, Kyuubi's and another one…one that Houkou hadn't felt in ages long past. A surprised look (as much surprised a dog would looke like) came to his features as his lips covered his fangs and his eyes narrowed whilst he stared intently into the blonde's eyes. _**"Rokubi…Rokubi no Raijuu…How is it possible that you too are present here…"**_ The Gobi snarled. It was then that Naruto decided to speak, his own voice twisted and unnatural, with three different pitches to it. His own, Rokubi's and Kyuubi's.

"**Gobi no Houkou. It seems that my vengance shall be able to be completed on behalf of that ill-suited loss ages ago…yet I do not understand why you would like**** to be in my presence after such a humilliating defeat with Nibi no Nekomata**(4)**, but I assure you that after this battle, you will end up in a tree once more; hidden for everyone to try and find, yet deep within the bowels of my own body, mind, and spirit, will be forever held captive inside the of me, Uzumaki Naruto! I shall make you pay tor trying to harm my mate!"**

Gobi tried to piece together what was just told to him. It made no sense dammned-Kami's sense! The boy had just referred to himself as Rokubi, then as the Kyuubi and finally as a man, Uzumaki Naruto_** 'What does this mean?'**_He asked himself._**'I can feel two presences within the body if this mere child, yet the Rokubi's and the human's chakra are bonded as one, while the Kyuubi's chakra acts as an additional source for back up. What in the Nine Hells is going on here!?'**_ Gobi's musings were cut short, as a wave of KI (a.k.a. Killer Intent from know on.) rushed at him and noticed that the vessel for what appears to be the Rokubi and the Kyuubi was now nearing him at a very, VERY fast pace.

Gobi opened his mouth and his tails swayed in the background. Blood Red and Icy Blue shined behind him as chakra started to congeal in Houkou's mouth. The sealless jutsu was completed as soon as it was started and a skeletal dragon made of blue fire left Gobi's mouth targeting Naruto as he roared the technique's name: "_**Maton: Nigyou Yuukai, Hyokaji Ryu**_ (4)" The demonic jutsu flew towards the intended target, it's azure flames freezing the air and the ground as it neared it. The sudden chakra spike caught many onlooker's attention, as they were staring in awe at the raw display of power of one of the legendary tailed beasts; and what was more amusing, watching a single shinobi face him off. Naruto's face contorted to that of surprise and then into that of anger.

He couldn't evade.

Something was preventing him from doing it. No, not something. More like someone. He mentally frowned as his body was wracked in pain from the jutsus' force of impact on himself and on the ground he was standing.

The jutsu struck true. A large formation of ice spikes and pools of lava formed at impact, all the while a large curtain of dust was raised to cover the turbulent heavens. Time stood still for everyone as Gobi stood waiting for any sort of movement coming from the general location. Finding none, he snorted as he thought that all of this was too easy; but let's not be irrational. If he had waited for many a milennia for a fight vs. Kyuubi, he could wait a couple of minutes, not wanting to be caught by surprise.

A few minutes and a raised eyebrow later; Gobi channelled his chakra onto the air, getting rid of the dust cloud that still polluted the air. What he saw was a half-beaten, half-mangled body that was surrounded by a reddish-looking chakra. Several chunks of ice were embedded in his body and you could clearly see that he was badly charred. The smell of burned flesh polluted the air, which only made the Gobu smirk. By channelling a bit more of his youki(5) into the ground, he brought a small piece of land that was directly touching the body, near his nose; he sniffed and licked the dirt and rocks for the scent of the body. It in fact, reeked of Kyuubi's youki, along with Raijuu's and the human's. Letting the chunk of earth fall to the ground, a huge grin adorned his façade. _**"So…this is all the Great Bringer of Lightning and vessel of the Kyuubi can do? Kukukukuku…I should have gone a bit less hard, seeing how you can't seem to handle an Elemental Fusion…"**_ The Gobi started to step forward, slowly moving towards Naruto's body.

Those who were watching the battle from afar were trembling at the display of raw power that had emanated from the five-tailed demon, and now, they were becoming afraid of the demonic pulsing that came from the prone human. By this point, all the chuunin, jounin, anbu, and Hokage had reached the perimeter of the fight. They were about to commence a defensive sweep against what appeared to be, two threats, but as the Gobi roared and allowed his KI to flow freely, many lost the control of their hands, letting their weapons fall to the ground and others lost control of their bladders, loosing fluids rather freely.

"_**Kukukukuku…mortals…this is naught something you wish to partake of. I am not here for you, but for him. Raise a weapon as a signal that you are willing to interfere and this village will be considered forsaken by your own hand…**__**"**_ Calmly spoke the demon. Many shinobi looked at their respective captains, as they looked at theirs and so on. It wasn't until all eyes were on Tsunade, that she gave the order to back away to a safe distance, and plan in case of retaliation from the Gobi.

"Damn…if the brat dies…that's going to be even more paperwork…he had just become a citizen AND instated as a shinobi…talk about more work for me…" The busty blonde thought. She called for her strategist, a pineapple headed shinobi that was continuosly mumbling "..troublesome…" while she pulled a small sake bottle and took a swig at it while listening to the new battle plan.

--

_Naruto's Mindscape_

"WHAT THE EFF WAS THAT!" yelled the blonde nin. "I KNEW I SHOULD HAVE EVADED THAT ATTACK! NOW I'M DYING OUT THERE AND HE'S GOING TO KILL INO AND DESTROY THE VILLAGE! WHY DID YOU STOP ME FROM EVADING! ANSWER ME, RAIJUU!"

Naruto continued yelling to the environment. The normal sunny day environment was replaced with dark clouds that had lightning coursing through them and thunder roaring through the heavens. It was when one of the bolts hit the ground that Raijuu manifested himself. The Golden Fur of the weasel was covered in blood and torn in multiple places, just like Naruto's body looks physically. The electric-haired nin stopped his rant upon looking at the conditions his alter ego was, and respectfully bowed, while looking away.

"_**Calm your emotions, Container."**_ Responded a calm Raijuu. _**"Remember that this is my body too. The pain you feel, I feel. We are bound by the flesh, though three different souls happen to inhabit these grounds…"**_ He said with a hint of pain and exhaustion in his voice.

"I know, Raijuu, I know." Sighed Naruto. "I still don't understand why I had to deliberately take that hit. I could have used Hiraishin(6) to get away and closer to Gobi…" Naruto started to feel strained. The damage done to his body was being repaired by Kyuubi's own youki, but that attack still felt like hell.

"_**Naruto…"**_spoke Raijuu. _**"Do you remember when I explained the reason for your code name?"**_ Naruto's face hardened at the mention of the topic. He slowly nodded, his eyes covered by his loose, electric-like hair. _**"Well, the time has come for you to use the technique that we developed. Even though I don't approve of it, it is a quick and easy solution to punish my brothers and sisters for their wrong doings…though beware, your body may not be able to cope with the strain of it…"**_

"**Hehehehehe, I agree with ****baka Rokubi here, brat…"** An omnious voice, malicious and sarcastic roared over the environment. From the forest, past the plains, a fox, not larger than Raijuu, sporting nine tails along with it's orange fur covered in blood, limped its way to the two that just looked at the source of the voice. The Rokubi just shot him a stare that had a _'don't-call-me-by-that-name-or-you'll-pay'_ look to it. **"…I don't like the fact that you have to use that on Houkou-dobe, but then again, I wouldn't mind ripping him a new one either when I see him again…"** he said, finishing with a fang-showing grin. His yellow eyes glowed in anticipation for the following moments in the physical world. **"Our body will be mended in exactly fourteen more seconds…"** the fox said**. "…and within one second before the mutt reaches you, I calculate he'll be within the range of the technique. Go prepared, for you only have one shot at it." **His snout lowered itself a bit and started to lick off the blood from his paws and legs, as he started chuckling.

"_**Be careful, Yashiro. We have to live up to the expectations that I have of us. Complete this task, and you'll be one step closer to realizing your goal…"**_ spoke Raijuu.

Naruto simply nodded to both and faded out of his mindscape, leaving a concerned-looking Raijuu and a Kyuubi that was laughing like a madman.

--

_Outside Naruto's Mindscape_

The reddish-orange chakra that was enveloping Naruto exploded into a pillar of fire. The expelled chakra held inmense power, as the heavens cleared a space surrounding the battlefield, letting the midday sun bathe the frozen-scorched earth. The wounds on the young container's body were being mended at a very fast rate. Slowly, the mangled body moved, little by little. An arm extended itself to grab a hold of a piece of ice, a hand flexed itself; finding feeling in all its digits. Both legs retracted and slowly pushed the beaten body up; with a red-eyed Naruto stared back at the Gobi, eyes full of hatred, fangs enlongating, claws appearing, chakra flaring.

"**Ne, Houkou-dobe…"** sneered the chakra flaring Jinchuuriki**. "…when you fought Kyuubi, you had Nibi with you, didn't you?"** The five-tails stopped at his tracks upon hearing the name of his fellow Biju. His memories of the disastrous battle many a millenia past still brought shivers to his demon hide. He had never experienced such a pathetic loss, and that was still with the Kyuubi being outnumbered two to one. Nibi had to retreat back to the Shinigami to heal her wounds and himself retreated to his secret lair and into his tree to plan his revenge. _**"So what if I did, boy? You are nothing except the container for one of us…you cannot wield the power of the Kyuubi to its highest potential. Kukukukuku…all you do is use the chakra of the demon you host as yours. You'll never be able to do what WE do…"**_

Houkou stopped his speech as the blond ninja dissappeared in front of him and reappeared suddenly on his back, between his shoulder blades, leaving a golden-orange afterline behind him. Many older generation shinobi recognized the technique, and the name of the Yondaime began to circulate through the battlefield onlookers. Naruto wasted no time, and by when he was on the Gobi's nose, his arms were extended to his sides, his hands running through several one handed seals, each doing a different one at the same time, molding chakra as fast as he could. Naruto's eyes were closed during the couple of seconds that he needed to complete the dozen one handed seals (24 if it had been two handed), only to open with a flash of red, yellow, and blue chakra that started to condense over the shinobi's right forearm, forming a ring of spinning symbols. **"Gobi…"** Naruto's voice came as the thunder in the skies. The red and yellow chakra that was enveloping him had now finished healing the wounds caused by Houkou's attack. The blonde's hand impaled the demon's back as it let out a horrible wail of pain. **"...I, Uzumaki Naruto, claim your chakra as my own. You shall forever live sealed in me, who is destined to walk this world. I am Yosugi Yashiro, the Living Shrine of Konoha."**

Naruto's chakra ring that was surrounding his forearms glowed and multiple kanji started emanating from it. The seals began to cover the body of the Gobi as it tried to struggle with the pain and the jutsu. He thrashed and wailed, he called upon the elements to do his bidding. His body became hard as stones, his hairs impaling the young Jinchuuriki; only to melt into magma and seriously damage the boy. The molten rock then flash freezed inside of the shinobi's body and exploded into razor wind blades. All the while, Naruto was focused on the technique, for he only had one shot at it. The Yellow and Red chakra was emanating more and more, healing almost instantly the damage that the Gobi was causing, but even then, it didn't reduce the pain that the boy would receive. Tears were streaming down Naruto's face as the pain was incredible, but the technique was almost completed. "…just…a bit….more…." he muttered, trying to keep his concentration.

The blades of wind that had erupted outwards from the Gobi's body shimmered and glowed a yellow glow and rushed back towards Naruto in the forms of bolts of lightning, ready to impale and cauterize the wounds that they would inflict. Naruto only smiled as he sensed the jutsu being completed and cried out to the heavens only moments before the bolts reached his hurting body…

"**Yashiro Fuuin Ninpo: Ruzai, Kaisekibaku no Jutsu!** (7)"

A blinding flash of white light burst out of Naruto's arm as sound was nullified and time seemed to come to a halt. The Gobi stood there, his head towards the skies, his back arching, covered in seals. The light continued to emanate from Naruto's arm and started to trail the thousands of kanji that were wrapped around the Gobi's body. The brightness engulfed both demon and shinobi, causing every spectator to look away as the glow expanded more and more, till there was nothing left but a giant sphere of white chakra around them.

--

_Inside the Chakra Sphere_

The Gobi looked around, perplexed. He had never heard of the Yashiro Fuuin Ninpo: Ruzai, Kaisekibaku no Jutsu and he had roamed the world for a good three millennia or so. The white environment around him was something he had only experienced when he meditated just like when one leaves their mind blank.

He immediately noticed that at a distance, a small red speck could be seen. He instinctively walked towards that direction, his chakra flaring as a warning sign to the incoming being. It wasn't until he felt a massive KI respond back to him, a KI that he had experienced before; one that had left him on the verge of death, that froze him where he stood.

A second wave of intent approached him from the rear and when he turned around, he saw a yellow shape approach to where he was. He knew that youki. He knew both youki well.

He had won against one, and lost against the other one.

Kyuubi and Raijuu approached Houkou, flanking him, both with a fang bearing grin on their snouts. The two snarled at him and lunged forwards, open snouts and claws ready to tear him apart. Gobi was paralyzed, he realized. He looked down to his feet and saw shackles that were keeping him in place. He tried thrashing, making them break, but it was to no avail. The chakra fetters were not going to give away. Gobi looked at the oncoming attack and tried to summon the elements, but that was to no avail. Where he was, was devoid of elements. He noticed that there was no air circulating in the environment, he couldn't feel the earth either. He molded his youki, but the moment it started to congeal, the chakra binds sapped it away from him. He tried again and again, only to fail every time.

The Kitsune and the Weasel slashed at him with all their might. Houkou felt his flesh being ripped off his body and yelped in pain as the attacks continued. He couldn't defend himself and he couldn't use his youki, he was pretty much defenseless.

A few minutes went by, and both Kyuubi and Raijuu stopped their attacks. They proceeded to approach the defenseless dog demon and snicker at his weakened form. **"Hehehehehe, look what we have here. If it isn't Houkou-dobe."** Said Kyuubi**. "I thought that you'd learn a lesson after the last time I mopped the ground with you. I guess you can't teach old dogs new tricks, hehehehehe…."** He laughed as he started to walk away. The environment by this moment, started changing into Naruto's Mindscape. The spherical world manifested itself and Kyuubi could be seen walking into the forest**. "Don't think that I'm done having fun with you, puppy, but our host here wants some payback for what you did to our body…oh! Before I forget to tell you…"** he said with a thick sarcasm and faking surprise. **"…I hope you like your new home, because you'll be sharing it with me and Raijuu-teme over there for the rest of Naruto's natural life…that is, if he dies…."** He finished saying as his last tail swayed into the dense foliage of the forest.

Raijuu stared down at the Gobi's torn body. He smirked at the broken frame as he walked away. _**"Know this, Houkou. In here, in OUR body, you are nothing…"**_ he said as he disappeared into the tall grass. It was then when Houkou's chakra binds were lifted and he could move freely once again. He tried molding his youki, yet nothing happened. He looked around and above, locating the shores where the large lake began and trotted there to lick his wounds.

--

_Outside the Chakra Sphere_

The blinding sphere of light began shrinking, and it continued to do so until it revealed a balled up Naruto floating in the air. Many shinobi and kunoichi began to approach as the sphere began to retract. They noticed that the Gobi's presence was gone and all that was left of him was the destruction that had caused a few minutes ago. Many more civilians and ninja approached the frozen-scorched battlefield and stared in awe as the floating boy lost whatever was keeping him afloat and plummeted him to the ground. The impact was heard through the dead silence that had encompassed the village and soon, the body of the blonde ninja was surrounded by almost all of Konoha's population. No one dared to come near him. The Hokage, Tsunade, was fearful of the fifteen year old who had managed to defeat the Gobi. No one, dared, excluding one kunoichi. She made her way through the multitude of people and fell on her knees, examining the blonde with basic medic nin jutsus. She released a breath she didn't knew she was holding when she felt a weak pulse, yet a pulse non the less, and after a few hand seals, she channeled healing chakra to help the fallen shinobi. Yet as she placed her hands on his chest to help with a heart massage, her own blood froze.

Yamanaka Ino released a painful scream as she felt Naruto's heart stop.

--

Somewhere in Fire Country

A blindingly fast figure that resembled a two tailed cat could be seen running at an incredible pace. As she ran, a green fire would sear whatever her body touched. At the moment, only one thing was on her mind, one place was her destination and, one man was who she wanted to see. Ever since she felt the wave of demonic youki in the air, Yugito's heart raced a hundred miles an hour, for it was heading towards Konoha. The Nibi had informed her that the youki she had sensed was non other than the Gobi's, but what scared them the most, was that Kyuubi's and Raijuu's chakra emerged a half an hour later. She was afraid for his life. Yugito had called onto the powers of the Nibi no Nekomata and was now half way towards her destination. She would soon be next to the man she loved, and Kami forbid that something had happened to him.

--

A/N

1 - _Kin'iro Hana_: Golden Flower

2 - _Shingan no Jutsu_: Mind's Eye Technique

3 - _Tajuu Shinranshin no Jutsu_: Mass Mind Body Disturbance Technique

4 - _Maton: Nigyou Yuukai, Hyokaji Ryu:_ Demonic Release: Two Element Fusion, Frozen Fire Dragon

5 - _Youki_: Demonic Energy

6 - _Hiraishin no Jutsu:_ Flying Thunder God Technique

7 - _Yashiro Fuuin Ninpo: Ruzai, Kaisekibaku no Jutsu:_ Living Seal, Ninja Art: Banishment, Land of Desolation Technique

Yo! Well, it's time for the Author's Notes again. Another Chapter done, and this is by far the longest one I've written, over 6500 words long. I kinda like this chapter, though there are some things that could've been better (but hey, I need a Beta for that).

I placed a few original jutsu's and their translation here, that way you have an Idea of what they do.

Now, for the polls regarding the story:

Harem: 4

Naruto + 2 girls 1

Character Deaths:

Sasuke 3

Danzo 2

Lee 1

Sakura 1

Neji 1

Regarding the question of Neji being an asshole, yes, he still is. Naruto wasn't there to help him realize that Fate isn't all in life. Hinata had to learn from her father the hard way. She actually is as arrogant as any Main Branch Hyuuga, except that she still has her sensitive side (which she rarely shows to anyone).

Keep those votes coming, and don't forget to post them in a review, that way people can see them also, tho' there's nothing wrong in the PM's also.

Oh yea! Naruto's Mindscape looks like Halo (the world), the X-BOX game, except it's a sphere; not a ring.


	7. Chapter 6, Rebirth and Unity

_**Disclaimer**__: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters created by Masashi Kishimoto, hell, I don't even own my flying squirrel, 'cause she owns me. _

_--_

…_.Yamanaka Ino released a painful scream as she felt Naruto's heart stop………..Yugito had called onto the powers of the Nibi no Nekomata and was now half way towards her destination._

--

The bright mid-day sky became dark and stormy. The battle had had ravaged the outskirts of Konoha, near the residence of the Yondaime Hokage, had taken place not a few hours ago and people were already bustling around the village, lending a helping hand to reconstruct the damaged buildings, put out fires, re-sow the earth, and act as if a Demon had never been there, ruining their daily activities. The damage was kept to a minimum, thanks to the intervention of the blonde shinobi who had single handedly fought and apparently subdued the five-tailed dog, Gobi no Houkou. Of course, there was no real evidence that the Gobi had run away, and only really powerful shinobi, like the Yondaime, can kill a demon; right?

--

The shinobi force had spread out by order of the Hokage, to secure the borders and investigate the path the Gobi had used to approach Konoha. The Hokage's Guard, composed of several elite jounin and ANBU were subduing a hysterical Ino whilst the Hokage herself and her two students: a pink-haired kunoichi that was in her teens, dressed in a red top, black skin tight shorts, and a pink skirt,; and a dark-haired woman who appeared to be in her early twenties, dressed in a black yukata; worked on the body of the fallen blond shinobi. Between the three of them, they were pouring all their knowledge and chakra into jutsu after jutsu. What they were dealing with was something that had neither had ever seen: an erratic flow of chakra, forcefully moving against the regular chakra circulation that was causing massive rips and gashes throughout the boy's body. The three worked quickly, healing the massive internal injuries that would appear every minute or so, not giving them the time to rest and analyze completely what was going on. The blonde kunoichi, Yamanaka Ino, was struggling against the jounin who were subduing her; her screams of pain for the man who she waited for made everyone within earshot flinch for the heartbroken girl. She finally stopped struggling after an hour and the ANBU who was doing most of the subduing released her from the double nelson that he had her in. Slowly she slumped to the ground, crying her heart out. The dog-masked ninja then proceeded to sit down next to her and wrapped a blanket around her, as a huge white dog moved to Ino's other side and sat down, wagging his tail.

"Ne, Ino-san, he's going to be alright. No one can that can take down a demon can die that easily…" he said as he removed his mask.

The white dog just nodded at the comment said by the shinobi with unruly brown hair and red face paint forming two triangles over his cheeks. Ino slowly dried the tears in her eyes and looked in the direction where Naruto was lying. A few support ninjas were now behind the Hokage and her assistants, channeling their chakra to them, aiding them through the rapid consumption of their own energy.

"Inuzuka-taichou…he is the man that I had spoken of to you before. It is because of him that I am the person who I am today. He protected me of the red-headed man when I was a kid, a man who had the intentions of raping me. We were only four and he took a beating for me, he didn't let the man touch me in any way, shape or form. He showed me love since that age…I could never forget his face, his blue eyes, his whisker marks on his cheeks…I…I love him…" she said, calming down from her struggles against the ANBU. He in turn, just laid back and analyzed what had just been told to him. He had known about the child molester that had been residing in Konoha, he even read the file on his MO (Modus operandi), but he didn't know that the person who was being saved in front of him, was in fact, Yamanaka Ino's savior those years back.

It wasn't until a few minutes later that Ino slowly stood up, letting the blanket slide off her shoulders, while Kiba and Akamaru watched her. She proceeded to slowly walk to the small group of working medic-nin, trying to save their own savior's life.

Kiba stayed put, his own thoughts now in disarray. Who would've thought that the savior of Konohagakure was Ino's long lost love? He chuckled when he realized the consequences of the situation. "Guess we won't be having Yamanaka in our squad, ne Akamaru? We're going to have to find a good replacement for her field interrogation position for a few weeks…" Kiba stood up as Akamaru moved next to him. "You are right, Kiba. She may be a little indisposed now that he has reappeared." responded the dog.

"Man, let's just go grab a bite to eat. The action here is over."

"Heh, you're always looking for a good fight aren't you? Maybe when he gets better, we'll be able to ask for a spar…" said Akamaru to Kiba as they both disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

--

"DAMMIT! WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THIS BRAT!? WHAT THE HECK IS GOING IN HERE!? WHERE'S A HYUUGA WHEN YOU NEED ONE!? SOMEONE BRING ME HYUUGA HINATA AND HYUUGA NEJI NOW!" The Hokage's voice rumbled through the nin that were present. A few 'Hai' were heard and several poofs followed suit. It took naught but a couple of minutes when both Neji and Hinata were on the field, each to the side of the Hokage.

"Hai, Hokage-sama…" they both spoke in unison. "…you called for us….?"

"USE YOUR EYES AND TELL ME WHAT YOU SEE! WE NEED TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO CONTROL HIS CHAKRA, NOW! HIS PATHWAYS ARE BEING TORN TO SHREDS AND IT'S AFFECTING HIS ORGANS!" She ordered. Both Neji and Hinata looked at each other from the corner of their eyes and with a slight nod, they activated their Kekkei Genkai. They both gasped at the moment they focused their Byakugan to the chakra pathways.

Hinata was stunned speechless, whilst Neji started mumbling incoherently, something about 'impossible' and 'freak of nature'. The Hokage's patience was short, and she heard the gasps. Something wasn't right. She was about to yell at them to snap out of it, but someone cut in to what she was going to say. "Hinata-san, Neji-san, please inform us of the conditions that you can see. We do not have your eyes, and we cannot operate at a hundred percent efficiency if you do not tell us what is going on."

The pink haired med-nin spoke without loosing her concentration. She was still focused at the task at hand. Her hands moving from area to area as the skin would tear and gash open, or the muscles underneath the skin would snap and tear. Hinata was the first one to snap out of it, but the words would not form a coherent sentence in her mouth.

"That cannot be…" spoke Neji. "…there are three different chakra colors that are battling against a purple colored one. The purple colored chakra is moving through the chakra pathways in opposite chakra flow…but it does it in irregular patterns, as if it was alive on its own…The blue colored chakra is acting as a puppeteer over the red and yellow one. Slowly they're pushing it own to his stomach…there! They've surrounded it!" Everyone was silent as Neji narrated what was going on inside the body of the fallen nin. "Hurry and heal the areas that are not affected by the purple chakra!" He commanded. "There's major internal bleeding near his carotid artery and in the left ventricle of his heart there seems to be a rupture on the muscle's wall! His spleen seems to have been nicked and his left lung has several tears alongside the inner wall!" Shizune and Sakura immediately started to work individually on a separate part while Tsunade was reinforcing the chakra pathways near the stomach, as Neji had said that that's where everything was happening.

"What else do your eyes see…?" asked Tsunade.

"The blue chakra is acting as a chain…" responded Hinata. She came out of her stupor after understanding what was happening. "The Red and Yellow are being commanded, as Neji said, by the Blue Chakra; but now, the Blue is acting as a fetter for the Purple chakra. It is holding it down as the Red and Yellow surround it….they've stopped!" She said. She sounded surprised, and kept focusing on his stomach.

"She is right; the purple chakra has stopped moving. It seems that now it's dispersing evenly through the Chakra Circulatory System." responded Neji.

"His heart and artery are healed…" responded Sakura.

"His spleen and lung have been repaired…" answered Shizune. "He seems to be in stable condition from what we can see…"

Everyone let out a sigh out of relief. The worst had past, now all they had to do was to wait until he decided to wake up.

--

Ino slowly approached around the group and placed herself in front of Naruto. She kneeled down and slowly lifted his head and gently placed it over her knees. She stroked his sweat drenched hair away from his face, revealing his features; a calm serene face adorned her own. His breath was slow but steady. She was happy that he was alive. Yamanaka did what she had wanted to do since she realized who he was…she bent down, and claimed his lips with her own, her nose barely touching his chin, his touching hers. Tears threatened to come once more, but she willed them back. All she could do now was to wait for him to regain consciousness. Tsunade moved to a boulder and sat down. Sakura and Shizune followed suit, sitting next to their shishou, waiting to receive any information on the golden haired nin and his relationship to Yamanaka Ino. They were surprised to hear that he was a former Konoha Nin turned-kumo-turned-Konoha Nin. After being informed of the Sandaime Hokage's and the Yondaime Raikage's agreement to train a Konoha Nin and let him return, they wondered why Kumogakure would allow such a legend as Yosugi Yashiro to leave so easily.

--

Those who weren't needed on the scene were sent to patrol the city, while those who got tired and realized that nothing was going to happen anymore, retreated to their houses. This was mainly for Civilians and Genins, whereas the patrolling part was left for the rest of the shinobi force, ordered by the Hokage herself; which was sitting down in the same place a couple of hours after everyone had left.

Yamanaka Ino was now holding Naruto completely. She had leaned back against a boulder and had placed Naruto's back against her chest. Her head was nuzzled on his shoulder and her head was leaning against his. She had refused to let anyone but her move him, for she wanted to be there when he woke up. Tsunade tried reasoning with her, and came to the agreement that if he didn't come to senses by nightfall, they both would be moved the Konoha's Hospital and placed in the same room so she would be there with him. "A few more minutes…" Said the busty blonde as she took a swig of sake from a bottle she had hidden inside her robes. Looking at the setting sun, she let out a long drawn-out sigh. "…a few more minutes before…."

Naruto's hand slowly twitched. His brow began to furrow and his jaw tensed. His chakra started to mold slowly, more and more being channeled through his body. Tsunade reacted quickly when she noticed this and was by the couple's side almost instantly. Ino looked worried and just stared at Tsunade with fear in her eyes. "What's going on?" she asked with a trembling voice, as her hands wrapped tightly around the blonde's waist.

"Like hell if I know, Yamanaka. This guy has been causing me more headaches in a day than Jiraya on one of his research frenzies…"

--

_Inside Naruto's Mindscape_

Naruto was on his knees, blood trickling from his mouth, his hands as support for his body. Rokubi and Kyuubi were around him, Rokubi with a worried look, whereas Kyuubi with an amused face. Gobi was slowly approaching the three and soon joined them, the three surrounding Naruto in a circle. The blood pooled underneath the boy as the three great tailed beasts stared in awe and shock. Gobi was still upset and his KI flared in an opportunity to strike at the boy, yet as soon as his claw approached to touch him, a barrier of blue chakra that appeared instantly repelled his strike and left a bad burn on the paw of the five tailed demon.

"_**So, even in death the boy is protected…kukukukuku…this means that our time here is short, my brothers…"**_ said the dog in a sarcastic voice. _**"…what do you think is happening to our…'host'…"**_ he ended the sentence with poison dripping on the last word.

"**The strain of four chakras is killing him…"** responded the fox with a gleeful voice. **"…he may not have more to live. The human body can only handle so much, especially because he wasn't trained to endure the addition of another tailed beast to his own chakra system…" ** He finished with a thoughtful semblance, before breaking into a chuckle. Raijuu and Houkou both stared back at the Kyuubi, whose chuckling became a laugh and broke into a maniacal outburst.

"**What seems to be so funny? Nine Tails? Can't you see that if he dies, you two will die also?"** responded Raijuu. His worried eyes not leaving the writhing form of Naruto. **"…There's no doubt about it. Something must be done, and as quick as possible, or we will all return to Makai and be forever trapped there inside Naruto's soul…"** _**'Here's the hook…'**_ he thought to himself.

Kyuubi stopped his laughing and his face became serious. Yes, he was the Lord of the Demons, but still, not even he would ever live down the shame of being part of a human soul. Gobi was thinking the exact same thing. There would be no way in Hell that he would be going there again trapped AND against his own will (not that he had an option, he WAS trapped after all). Rokubi smiled at the serious faces made by the other two tailed beasts, and spoke once more after a few minutes. He looked to the scene above him, the ocean and the island that were on top of the mindscape. **"…although, maybe it would be for the best. After all, you two ARE sealed in a human manifestation of MY soul…I wonder what would the Lord of Hell think of the two of y…."** his words rudely interrupted by a sudden outburst.

"**WE HAVE TO SAVE THE BOY!" **yelled the Kyuubi no Kitsune. **"THERE'S NO WAY IN HELL THAT HE IS GOING TO DIE NOW! NOT TODAY IF I HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY AOBUT IT. IF WE HAVE TO BE SEALED IN SEPARATE PARTS OF HIS BODY, THEN SO BE IT, BUT I DO NOT WANT TO BE CAUGHT MERGED WITH ANY OF YOU TWO FLEA BAGS!"** his eyes were wide and his claws dug into the ground. All the while, Rokubi smiled at the antics of both tailed beasts. _**'…….line……**_' thought Raijuu. The Gobi was acting the same way. He apparently didn't like the idea of being sealed into Rokubi's manifested soul in Makai. He could never live it down.

Ever.

"_**OH, HELL NO!"**_ Gobi yelled_**. "I'D RATHER BE SEALED INTO SOMETHING ELSE WILLFULLY THAN TO GO TO HELL WITH BOTH OF YOU! WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO!? BETWEEN THE THREE OF US, THERE'S GOTTA BE A WAY TO SAVE THIS GAKI FROM DEATH!"**_

'…_**and sinker!'**_ That was more than enough. The Rokubi was smiling a fang filled smile '_**I can't believe that they fell for it that easily! Kyuubi, Lord of Demons, my ass; I'd expected him to catch it sooner, but oh well. And Gobi? Damn, you really can't teach old dogs new tricks.' **_**he said to himself** **"Well, there is one thing we can do…but technically, you'll still be bound to the kid's life force…."** he spoke.

The Gobi and Kyuubi looked at each other and then turned to Raijuu. They both nodded in unison, hoping to stay alive and stay away from Makai in their current pathetic condition.

"**Use it, Uzumaki. Until you are capable of handling the strain, you will have to rely on the **_**Tsunagari no Kunou…"**_

"H…hai…Raijuu…I'll try…."

"**Do not try, Uzumaki…simply do it…."** said Raijuu as he cut him off. He gave him a stern look and then nodded towards Naruto

Naruto painfully nodded as he faded back into consciousness.

--

_Outside Naruto's Mindscape_

Naruto's eyes flashed open and bolted upright almost instantly, scaring the two girls that were next to him. His right hand went over his heart and his left to his stomach. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but a sudden jolt in his chest caused him to muffle a scream instead. He turned to the Hokage who was immediately running diagnostic jutsus on him. She gasped when she realized that his heart was beating much to fast. If it continued like that, he would probably have a heart attack! She noticed Naruto looking at her and his left hand reaching to his kunai holster. Tsunade's eyes went wide as saucers and Ino noticed. She too, looked towards where Naruto's hand was, retrieving a kunai from its ring. She immediately clung to his back and started crying. Tsunade's hand reached to his and gripped his wrist, forcing him to drop the weapon. "You will not commit suicide, I will not let you." She told him in a dead serious voice.

"Baa...chan…take it…take the…the….urg…" his voice broke as his right hand reached to his mouth to try and cover a gush of blood that came through his fingers. "…throw it…throw it as far North East as you can…" he spoke with a broken visage on his face. "…I knew the consequences….but I am not…cough…done yet…I can feel her…she can help me...she will help me complete the seal….please…cough…cough…." Tsunade looked at him worriedly as the blood kept flowing from his mouth, her sight trailed from his eyes to the kunai that he was retrieving. A diminutive gasp followed by the release of his wrist and a light chuckle later caught Ino's attention as well. She turned from Naruto's back to look at the Hokage and the kunai that she had begun twirling in her index finger. "You never stop surprising me, kid…though; you'd better know what you're doing…" Tsunade turned sharply, facing towards the village. "HYUUGA HINATA!" She yelled, and in a matter of minutes, a female ANBU appeared. By taking the bird mask off, her face revealed the navy haired kunoichi. "You both have a mission..." Spoke the Hokage. "You two are escort Uzumaki Naruto to wherever he tells you to. Do not let him die, this mission is category S due to the life threatening situation that he is in and SS if you have to fight to reach your destination, do you understand me?" Hinata looked on to the two blondes and just then noticed the blood that was trailing from Naruto's mouth. She stifled a gasp as her hands intertwined over her heart. She immediately regained her composure and walked towards the two shinobi.

Yamanaka Ino bolted straight up, and immediately helped Naruto to his own feet, while acting as a crutch on his right. Hinata approached the now standing couple and positioned herself next to Naruto. "Hai, Hokage-sama…" were their responses. Naruto's head leaned forward and another gush of blood came from his mouth. He then proceeded to grasp Ino tightly as he brought her in for an embrace. He then proceeded to reach out to Hinata, but she was hesitant.

"You need to…cough…hold on to and don't let go…" Naruto strained a whisper. "…both of you…this will be a bumpy ride…cough…or so I've been told…" he said with a smile at the end.

"I'll never let go, my love…." responded Ino. Hinata's only response was a slight nod as she returned the embrace herself. She proceeded to move behind him and hug his back, her face hidden between his shoulder blades and her hands around his waist. Naruto didn't notice the wet spot that was starting to form where Hyuuga's face was, but hey, he had more things to worry about at the moment.

The Hokage looked at the shinobi trio and smiled. 'I guess he won't have any problems re-building his clan…' she thought to herself, as with a chakra enhanced throw, she released the weapon.

In a flash of gold and blue, Naruto, Hinata, and Ino vanished into the direction the _tri-pronged_ kunai was hurled.

"Who knew that the brat mastered Hiraishin?" Tsunade chuckled as she made her way to the Hokage Tower. _'Man…this is going to be a long night…'_ she told herself, after realizing the amount of paperwork she would have to be done by the morning. _'…and I'm fresh out of sake…'_

--

_A few dozen miles North East of Konoha_

A feral green spirit cat was sprinting at top speed, green flames burning whatever the being touched. It's direction: Konoha.

Yugito had been traveling at a neck-breaking pace, using the Nibi's chakra to cut the time that it would've taken to get from her village to her new destination to a few hours. Physically, she was exhausted, but the weak link to Naruto that she still felt made her push on. All the way there, her left hand was over her heart, rubbing fervently over her clothing. The link she felt with the other blonde became weaker and weaker by the hour and she couldn't help but worry. 'Please, Kami…' she prayed all the way there. '…let me be on time…don't let him die…I don't want him to die…there must be something that I can do…'

She didn't have any idea how her prayers had been answered then and there, but it so happened that she sensed an incoming projectile, so she stopped and jumped from a small clearing, to the trees and into the foliage; only to see a kunai, a very familiar-looking kunai, embed itself ring deep into the ground. An instant later, a blur of blue and gold tumbled to the clearing that she was in, revealing two girls and…

"NARUTO!" she screamed. She was immediately by his side; her hands and arms quickly raised him to a sitting position with her kneeling down and embraced him into a loving hug. She noticed that he had to strain himself in order to return the embrace, weakly, yet he did. "Naruto…sweetie…tell me what's going on! What's happening to you? Why are you like this? Why did I feel the presence of the Gobi and yours along with the Kyuubi's and Raijuu's...and who are these two girls….!" Her questions came out all together, not giving the wounded nin an opportunity to answer.

Yamanaka Ino and Hyuuga Hinata took that moment to stand up and dust themselves and then proceeded to rush towards the two blond nin. While the unknown kunoichi babbled a long stream of questions, they interrupted her as they drew their weapons. "Please…" spoke Ino. "…we are on a SS class mission here. Do not interfere or suffer the consequences…" The female jinchuuriki fell into a defensive stance, placing Naruto behind her and guarding him from danger.

"The life of Uzumaki Naruto is in grave peril. He is to direct us to someplace and to someone who he claims that can help him in the critical stage his being is in…" added the Hyuuga. "…you seem to know him, may I ask from where?" She said as she noticed the Kumogakure headband. Her hands immediately tensed around the handle of her no-dachi. _'Why did we have to encounter a Cloud nin here of all places?'_

Ino noticed the headband also and slowly pieced two and two together: Naruto returning the hug, her acting affectionate towards him, and caring for his well being; aside from being defensive for him against the two girls that he appeared with. The grip on her katana tightened as realization hit her.

Hard.

Jealousy was her first thought. Yet, she could understand why someone else would fall for the Uzumaki. He had so many good qualities, and very little bad ones. Her eyes concentrated on her, examining her reaction towards them. Ino knew that she posed no threat to them, so with a reluctant sigh, she lowered her weapon, leaving a questioning Hinata next to her.

"I'll assume that you are Naruto-kun's wife?" Asked Ino with an icy edge to her voice. The jealousy was becoming more and more obvious, yet, she couldn't become mad at the couple, after all, she was now part of them. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you. My name is…"

"Yamanaka Ino, Jounin Kunoichi of Konoha, Investigation and Interrogation Division. Your areas of Specialization fall into Infiltration, Information Gathering, Torture, and Crowd Control. I know perfectly who you are…" responded the crouching blonde. Ino was taken aback to know that she had made a name for herself in the short year she had made Jounin, but the fact that she had been trained by Morino Ibiki to become his replacement was something that many were afraid of and many more had heard.

"Yes, down to the dot…" responded Ino. "…but I was to introduce myself as Yamanaka Ino, Naruto-kun's girlfriend…It's a pleasure to meet you…"

Yugito cringed at the sound of the word 'girlfriend'. 'Damn…either he works fast and can't keep it in his pants, or he can't keep them off of him…' she thought to herself. '…he'd better hope it's the latter, or there'll be blood to shed….' Swallowing hard, Yugito stood up and gave her a look over. Blonde hair, long; blue eyes, slim figure, purple attire. Ino noticed the scrutinizing look that she was receiving and it formed a tick on her forehead. "…let's worry about my figure later, Naruto-kun's life is in danger and we still don't know where we have to go…"

"We…cough…have arrived to where…cough…we need to be…." Came a very strained voice. Ino and Yugito turned around to notice Hinata helping Naruto up to his feet. "Neko-chan…the strain of a third tailed…beast is too much…it appears…I need to use the Tsunagari no -…"

SMACK

Yugito's hand connected to Naruto's cheek, leaving a red hand print. Her eyes became downcast as she started trembling. "…onegai…don't…don't finish that sentence…" Naruto lowered his head to face the ground as his left hand reached the tender spot on his cheek. All the while, Hinata and Ino stared at the decision that the couple had to reach.

"…but…I have to…cough…Neko-chan…it's the only way…"

"Ano…what is the Tsunagari jutsu…?" Asked Hinata, whose question froze both Naruto and Yugito. It took them a few moments before Yugito took the initiative, as when she glanced at Naruto, he was in a more pensive state.

"Amatsu Fuuin: Tsunagari no Kunou…an S to SS rank jutsu designed by Naruto-kun as a variance from the Fuuin Jutsu: Shiki Fuuin used by the Yondaime Hokage against the Kyuubi…except that instead of forming a 'vacuum seal' and pull the target into the fetter that will act as a container…this particular seal expels that which is to be sealed and seals it into the new target…or so he told me…the fact of the matter it that it's still in it's experimental stages…and from what I've heard…there's a high mortality rate…only those with perfect charka control will be able to survive…." Yugito's voice lowered at the end of the sentence, as she glanced back at Naruto and noticed that he was already working on the complex seals that were needed for the Amatsu Fuin. "Na..Naruto-kun…do you really have to do this? Is there no other way?" pleaded the blonde jinchuuriki, as her and the other two approached carefully towards the Kyuubi's container's location.

He was working on his knees. The seals that he was drawing were many and complex, yet looked very peaceful and fluid. With every cough, blood would pool in his mouth, and by using that same blood, the seals were inscribed on the ground beneath him. Once a seal was made, it glowed red, then turned obsidian black, becoming one with the ground and with the rest of the inscriptions that the shinobi was writing. With a heavy grunt and another blood-soaked cough, Naruto spit the life-giving fluid to one side, away from the seals that he was working on. He noticed that he was now surrounded by the three girls and with a tired smile; he motioned them to come closer. "Girls…at the moment…I am not strong enough…" he started speaking. "…I have not reached the strength necessary to protect you three…cough…as much as I desire…"

"What are you talking about, Naruto-kun!?" Cried Ino. "You just saved Konoha from it's destruction by killing a tailed beast! You have achieved far greater strength than anyone in the vil…"

"You are mistaken, Ino-san…" interrupted the formerly quiet Hyuuga. "…Naruto-kun did not kill the beast…he simply sealed it away…away in his own body, didn't you, Naruto…?"

Naruto's head lowered as Hinata began explaining the reasons on why she believed the Gobi was sealed into Naruto, catching everybody's attention…

"When the beast struck, his presence was astounding. Those of us that could activate their Kekkei Genkai used it to locate the massive chakra that was flaring…better said, the two massive chakras that flared up…one after the other…" She took a moment to choose her next words, all the while, Ino and Yugito helped Naruto lean against a tree, and stayed by his side "…There were two chakras that flared, one was demonic, and its color was purple…the other one was human and it was blue. The second chakra later added both yellow and orange to its flare and the nature of the chakra changed to that of what it was going against…demonic…" a knot formed in her throat as she kept talking. All the while, Ino listened intently while Yugito stroked Naruto's now paling visage. "…Tsunade asked me and Neji-nii-san to help her during Naruto-kun's emergency battlefield treatment after a jutsu he used that made the Gobi disappear…and my eyes saw something unexplainable…three chakras, one acting as a coordinator, and two more, attacking a purple chakra that moved in Naruto-kun's chakra system. Both yellow and orange cornered the purple chakra in Naruto's navel area and then the blue chakra acted as a fetter and effectively stopped the threat from going anywhere…isn't that right…Naruto-kun…?"

The same tired, yet sincere smile adorned Naruto's face. "…on the money….Hina-chan…" he said with a coarse voice.

"The seal…you were explaining that it worked by 'expelling'…by any chance, you mean 'expelling' the Gobi into the new seal? To the new container?" Naruto frowned at the comment. All he did was nod in agreement to what she was saying. "...if that's the case...to who or what are you planning to seal the demon in...?"

Both Ino and Yugito stared back at Hinata as she finished talking, whilst Naruto's quiet demeanor showed that she hit the spot. He strainfully pushed Ino's and Yugito's hands away as he struggled to get on his feet and started walking towards the seal he had worked on. The three just looked at his broken self, his torn visage and the pain his blue eyes that looked like they had lost the spark of life. "...I can't do this...I can't contain the beast at the...moment..." He struggled to say. Naruto then turned to look at Yugito and stared deep into her eyes. "...my overwhelming cha...chakra capacity still isn't enough...I must train more...in order...in order to protect my loved ones...Ne-coughcough-neko-chan...the Gobi and the Nibi were allies against the Kyuubi many a Millenia ago...you're chakra control is amazing...you would be able to...subdue his youki..."

Yugito understood what he was asking. She stood up and walked towards Naruto and the seal.

"...no..."

Yugito stopped on her tracks. She turned to look at Hinata, her eyes in tears. "What do you mean 'No'? If I don't do this...He will die! Who are you to tell me what to do and what not to do for my husband...?"

Hinata walked towards the two blondes, and positioned herself between them. "...I'm not asking you to not do anything...but if what Naruto-kun says is true...then maybe, I'm the better candidate for the seal..."

Everyone gasped at Hinata's comment. Ino stood up and ran to the three. "What do you mean, Hinata-san...we can't risk this! The Gobi could escape and take vengeance against Konoha!"

"Hyuuga Hinata-san...was it...?" asked the other blonde Kunoichi. Hinata's attention was once again on Yugito. "...why would you choose this burden to carry over your own shoulders? We are hated...we are attacked...we are the hateful representation of fears...yet you choose to become what Naruto-kun and I are? What is your motivation?"

Hinata stared into Yugito's eyes and then back to Naruto's. "...I want to thank him...for that escort mission gone wrong a year back...and for giving my father peace of mind...by returning his brother's remains to the Hyuuga..."

Yugito's head snapped from her to Naruto and back. "...so...you've met before, I presume? And that would explain why your clothes were torn and smeared with blood the night before departure..." Hinata simply nodded to the first part of the question, whereas Naruto nodded to the second part.

"...once again, I believe that I am a better choice for this seal. As a Hyuuga, I have developed chakra control far beyond normal expectations, or I wouldn't be an ANBU captain. My Jūken needs fine control or it would be useless..."

The three other shinobi pondered the statement for a moment before Ino and Yugito turned to Naruto. He in turn had a stern face on and didn't seem very convinced. Hinata walked to him and embraced him, her arms around his neck and her head next to his left ear. She whispered ever so softly while a single tear rolled down her cheek. "Onegai...Naruto-kun...ever since we were kids, you were a ray of sunlight in my childhood...then you disappeared so suddenly...because of your pranks and big smiles...my days were always better...allow me to return the deed and use me...maybe with this...I can become closer to you than what we already are..."

Naruto stiffened and slowly returned the embrace. His hands clenched her clothes and he started trembling. "I...don't want this for you...Hina-chan..." he answered back.

"Silly boy..." was Hinata's response. "...I'm doing this not as a favor or out of pity, but out of love and respect for you..." She then removed her head from his shoulder and released the embrace. She proceeded to take his face in her hands and slowly approached her lips to his own. Yugito and Ino stared at the two, seeing the result of their small private chat. Ino looked a bit upset, yet Yugito simply walked up to her and patted her on the shoulder.

"Listen..."she said "...I'm sorry for coming out too strong to you, but I wanted to make sure that you would care about my...our husband and fiancée..." Ino's head turned to look at the now smiling Yugito. She let out a sigh she didn't know she had and turned her head back to the now kissing couple.

"What are the odds of us three having to share him more?" asked the now calm mind walker

"Those chances are not for us to know. Naruto and I grew up in an environment that supports these kind of situations, so it's normal for us. You on the other hand, is something that you've never experienced before." Then, Yugito grew a big smile. "Although trust me...there's enough of him to share with a thousand of us..."

Ino turned to Yugito and gave her a strange look for the lecherous smile that Yugito had on her face. A small drop of drool was tempting to fall from the side of her mouth, but was quickly taken care of when Yugito came back to reality. "...I'm Yugito...Uzumaki Yugito...it's a pleasure to meet you, future Mrs. Uzumaki..."

--

A/N: Well, I feel that this chapter is mainly a filler. It may or may not attract some of the readers out there, but it was something that I felt needed to be posted, I mean, come on! Even though Naruto is the hero of the story, it doesn't mean that he's invincible. Stuff that's out of control, like, you know, adverse side effects of absorbing a tailed beast, is something he wasn't prepared to deal with. Hopefully, he'll take this as a learning experience and be better prepared to deal with it when the time comes.

I Hope you enjoyed this chapter, which I want to dedicate to Lord Raine. He game me such an amazing review that inspired me to finish as soon as possible. The next chapter is well on it's way, just need to start the beta'ing with Munj Hydromonk (I'll e-mail it to you once it's near completion, so you can check it.)

Thanks and 'til next time!

-seilif

Taichou – Captain

Shishou – Teacher, Master

Hiraishin – Flying Thunder God

Amatsu Fuuin: Tsunagari no Kunou – Heavenly Seal: Bond of Suffering


	8. Chapter 7, Human Sacrifice

_**Disclaimer**__: I do not own Naruto._

**A/N: **Well, I'll answer some questions here:

**Lord Raine**: Thank you very much for all your input, and to answer you: The council and Hiashi will have something to do later on, yet what will happen and the consequences shall be revealed within the chapters of them being inside Konoha and as soon as they found out what happened. Akatsuki and Sasuke have a major part of this role, yet they're in the background at the moment, not as important (think of it as preTime Skip Naruto)

**Nasuren: **I hope that this chapter answered your comment. :3

**Useful76**: Thanks!

Also, I have started a second story. The name is **The Nine Seasons**. If you liked Living Shrine, Nine Seasons is darker and jumps straight into violence and combat since chapter one. It will be concluded in nine chapters, as the name states. Please stop by and R&R if you can!

Thanks, and on to the story…

_--_

"_...I'm Yugito...Uzumaki Yugito...it's a pleasure to meet you, future Mrs. Uzumaki..."_

--

Wrathful Fire, Soothing Wind, Blinding Lightning, Solid Earth, Flowing Water, Silver Metal. The kanji for the five elements glowed with those descriptors, forming a complex circle seal that surrounded the lavender eyed, navy blue haired goddess, which stood over the glowing kanji for Metal. The female ANBU stood anxiously in the center of the converging lines, observing a sun-kissed shinobi go through a series of hand seals for the past two minutes and counting. Standing a few feet away, a couple of blonde kunoichi stood behind the male. They were wary for his condition didn't seem to be very good. Every once in a while, he would have to abruptly stop his seals in order to cough up blood, blood he was very careful not to spill on the active seals on the ground. All the three girls could do was, wait for the results of the jutsu that had a high risk, according to Yugito.

Ino looked back and forth between Hinata and Yugito. From out of no where, not only had she been reunited to her beloved, but at the same time, she had gained two people that she didn't expect. Jealousy was the first thing on her mind, as how she had to share Naruto with two more women. It was bad enough that the way Hinata had acted meant that if she had met him as a child; her fascination for him was something more than a childhood crush. That and the fact that the Mission Report regarding the assassination of her squad to the hands of some Kusagakure nin while escorting the then unknown Naruto; and his intervention to save her by placing his own life on the line, and defeating the nin that were threatening to take Hinata's; only added fuel to the fire. She felt betrayed by Naruto for marrying someone else, but she couldn't blame him. A shinobi's life is always at stake. Missions have been known to jump from a C-Rank to an A-Rank in the blink of an eye because of clients hiding information. He wanted to have a family, and she wanted to have one as well. He got his wish, and she could still have hers. She just didn't want to share it with someone else.

She glanced at Yugito. Her face, hardened by all the negative thoughts threatened to soften as she saw the worried look on her rival's face. It brought to Ino's mind what she had spoken not too long ago, during their introduction.

Yugito was the one that offered to share him as a life partner with her.

Yugito was already used to this type of situation.

It was up to her to accept the fact that if she wanted Naruto, the same way he was willing to share himself with Yugito and Hinata, she would have to make the sacrifice.

But that was easier said than done. Ino's softened face hardened a bit. A small twitch on her eyebrow and a intake of air showed that she was going to say something that she was uncomfortable saying. "Yugito-san…" she started. The blonde turned to her counterpart with a worried look on her face, giving a silent acknowledgement to her name being called. Ino continued talking. "…I…I love Naruto-kun…but…I find this situation ridiculous…" Yugito knew where this conversation was going. She stole glances at Naruto and Hinata while letting Ino finish her statement. "…it is something that may take some…time…for me to be able to fully live with and accept the fact that I'm going to be sharing the man I fell in love with so many years ago with other women…." She finished as her eyes became fixed onto Naruto's form and her arms crossed in front of her.

"I understand, Ino-san…" responded a solemn Yugito. "…but remember this…" she said as her eyes also fixed on her husband. "…his heart is large enough to love us all the same. You will be surprised how much attention he gave away in Kumo and I never felt like he forgot about me…" a small, sincere smile adorned her lips. "…if he loves, attention will never lack, and trust me on that, ok?" Yugito's eyes never left her husband, her hands intertwined on her chest, hoping for the best.

Ino kept staring at Naruto, thinking thoroughly about what was just told to her. 'We'll see about that…'

--

"What do you think is going to happen…?" asked a feminine voice to the wind. "Ne, onii-chan…we've been tracking this guy for a few days now…we finally found him…and…_HE's_ not very happy…" a young blonde haired girl said as she emphasized on _he_. She was dressed in a sky blue kimono adorned with several silver swirls that resembled wind along the trims. A teal obi that matched her eyes was fastened around her waist. She wore the traditional sandals and tabi socks to accompany her attire

A red haired, one arm shinobi blurred next to the body of the girl. His emerald eyes and unruly hair were fixed at the four Konoha shinobi that were in a clearing, performing a ritual of some sort. He sported a dark crimson yukata with same colored baggy pants, and standard issued sandals. His yukata was open, which revealed a black shirt and his only arm; his left one, resting inside. Dangling on his left thigh was a leather gauntlet with metal blades on the fingers, which were made to look like the famed 'Demon Brothers' from Kirigakure.

"Just watch and learn…he has fought his demon and won. Only good can come if you learn from his ways, little one...we will ask to speak with him once he is done with whatever he's doing…"

"H-hai…onii-chan…" and with that, they both waited and observed.

--

The now orange sun beams that were setting in the horizon kissed the raven locks of a young man. Said man with onyx colored eyes, dressed in a white keikogi shirt, sporting black hakama pants that were held by a black sash with a white rope belt. He was currently sitting over a rock, a black katana stuck to the ground and he was leaning forward, using it as support as he watched how near his feet, a thick crimson liquid pooled from around him.

Blood…

Countless shinobi moaned and groaned, as they lay on the ground, panting heavily, while groaning in pain. Many lost a limb or two; many had a body part pierced by a sword or by a kunai, many had broken bones, but none the less, all of them shared something in common.

They were still alive.

"You know…If you let them live, you won't become strong enough…" a snake-like voice hissed at him. The raven haired boy turned slowly to the direction of the voice.

"Hnn….what do you think happened in Konoha? The chakra surge that we felt was unnatural…demonic, if you would call it…" He responded. Not even paying attention to what the snake was telling him, but more worried about the chakra he felt a few days ago. Orochimaru hated it when his protégé and future container didn't show respect or listened to what he said, but there was always the future where he wouldn't have to listen to his whining ever again. _'…soon, very soon, I won't have to live in this body anymore…soon I'll be able to learn all the jutsu's in th-…' _

"OROCHIMARU!" spoke a voice full with hatred. The snake sannin turned around, breaking his chain of thought, to see four squads of ANBU-dressed ninja being commanded by a heavily bandaged man. Beside him, two elderly figures wrapped in battle gear were standing next to him. All of them were wary of their surroundings, prepared for everything with Orochimaru standing defiantly in front of them, with the traitorous Uchiha Sasuke behind him. One false step and all of them would die a horrible and painful death..

"Kukukukuku…Danzo-sama…what a pleasure to see you again…" his voice dripping with sarcasm. "…and you're alive!" He acted surprised. "My, my, what a pleasant surprise, I would've thought that the Gobi would've eaten you as a snack for disturbing his slumber…kukukuku…."

"Do not play games with us, Orochimaru..." responded Koharu. "We are here to seek revenge on our behalf. You set us up! You knew that the Gobi would try and kill anyone who woke him up, but at least your plan failed. The demon container, no, the demon himself is still alive! He even took the offensive and absorbed the Five Tailed Demon!"

Orochimaru's face paled even more than it what already was. His eyes glazed for a moment and his whole body tensed. Sasuke went through the same, his blood boiling at the news the Konoha nin brought to them. The snake's attention was back at full towards Danzo and his companions. He started to exude his killing intent towards them; all the while Sasuke activated his cursed kekkei genkai and stared in the direction of his former village. "So…" the raven haired exile spoke first. "…the fight we sensed just two days ago… was the fight between the container of the Kyuubi and the Gobi? A human with a demon inside of him, defeated a demon?" Electricity started cackling around him as his chakra spiked. "This is going to be interesting….Orochimaru! They bore me. I wish to meet this 'Demon' or so they call him. We move as soon as I take care of these weaklings…"

"Maa…Sasuke-kun….I've never seen you so excited about something since you received my seal…now…show them what a real demon is capable of…"

"Hnn…." was his response as his after image was all that was left of him in the area.

The dark crimson stained ground would renew its bright color once again with the fresh blood that was to be offered for it to drink. The 'Ne' forces that were with Danzo, Koharu and, Homura sprung to action at the sudden realization that the Uchiha had flickered out of their senses. Everyone stood silent, searching for any chakra signature that would prove hostile. Said act was easier said than done, for Orochimaru stood in front of the squads with a sinister smile, eyes lusting blood, and his notorious laughter echoed in the silent background. No one dared to move, everyone held their breath, and it wasn't until the cackling of lightning and the 'thud' of a body hitting the ground when everyone realized that the raven haired avenger had successfully pierced through one of the masked ANBU's back, his hand been protruding messily through the front of his torso. In the blink of an eye, he was gone yet again.

ANBU personnel and the three elders that formed part of the council became more wary of the situation that they were in. Not only were they up against Uchiha Sasuke, Orochimaru's pet and protégé, but also against the master.

Boy, where they in for a good one.

A couple of muffled yelps brought everyone out of their reverie, as two more 'Ne' soldiers dropped to the ground unceremoniously. One had a kunai lodged in his throat, and fell with garbled gasps, as blood flowed freely from the severed jugular, yet another had his own no-dachi piercing through the top of his skull and the blade following the course of the spinal chord. A third 'Ne' member managed to turn around slowly, watching the Uchiha finish sheathing his sword. It was then when his torso was divided in two as blood started to gush out. The severed man's body stood, unaware that from the left shoulder, all the way down to the right kidney was gone in a diagonal slice. It fell down to the floor a moment later, as at the unbelieving eyes of the Konoha shinobi were wide as saucers from within the mask, lifeless, and in shock, with his last words circling over and over in his brain _'…fast….'_.

Danzo saw his elite force become demoralized and proceeded to encourage them. By stepping forwards he raised his voice and spoke "We fight for Konoha! They tricked us into using a power that was inconceivable, we shall make them pay! Let them know the true power of the Leaf Shinobi! The secret Root div…" His speech cut short by a black sword that was lodged between his eyes and a stoic Uchiha standing in front of him with a bored expression on his face. "…you speak too much…" he said before Danzo disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving only a pierced log in his behalf.

The armless shinobi reappeared in another puff of chakra smoke next to the other two council members, his face twisted in anger, his only hand opening and closing at a fast rate. His teeth grinded against each other and he could taste the bile at the back of his mouth. "ATTACK!" was the only word that came out of his facial orifice. It was then that all the Root Division of ANBU began the relentless assault against Uchiha Sasuke.

--

Orochimaru stood stoic, his eyes solely on Sasuke and the onslaught that was to ensue._ '…maa…he's becoming quite the perfect killer…soon enough, his body shall be mine for the taking!'_ he said unto himself, as his mad cackle reverberated amongst the battlefield.

--

The clash of swords, kunai, and shuriken echoed amongst the evening sky. 'Ne' shinobi had tried to excise their most complicated and astute strategies used to take down cities and capitals in the past, against a single shinobi, and yet, they still have to lay more than a finger on the raven haired boy.

Out of the initial twenty ANBU that were fighting the Uchiha, only four remained. Danzo, Homura, and Koharu stayed motionless, staring at the massacre the young apprentice to the snake had caused in the fifteen short minutes between their appearance and the conflict that ensued from the provocation of Sasuke to Danzo. The avenger stood victorious in the center of a bloody circle, some scratches and bruises, nothing serious adorned his frame. Foreign blood marred his white keikogi, staining it crimson, while bodies that littered the ground around him were forever still. Crimson blazed as his eyes had formed the mature Sharingan, and his cold and calculating stare was focused on the four 'Ne' captains that surrounded him.

The air stopped flowing, the environment tensed as the battle was nearing the end. Clearly, the remaining 'Ne' soldiers realized that they were highly outclassed, yet couldn't retreat. Cowardice was not tolerated, and running away would prove fruitless, even if they survived. They would be hunted down and killed by other Root members as soon as their locations were found out. Their hands fastened hard on their no-dachi.

They knew that this was the last time that they would feel the air touch their skin.

--

'…_.there are four left….the dog…the monkey…the dragon…and the hawk….hmmmm…..'_ thought one stoic Uchiha. _'…who shall be the first…ahhhh….that one….'_ He thought to himself with a sadistic smirk growing on his face and his eyes focused on the female of the four.

--

The four 'Ne' shinobi waited patiently for their enemy to make his move. They slowly started to move in a square pattern circling Sasuke, in hopes of getting an upper hand by placing themselves in a strategic position, giving him no running space. Already they had lost many in a wild attack thanks to the overconfidence of their subordinates.

Their wait was short lived, as they watched their target make slow movements. His feet shifted into the basic horse stance, his torso faced a forty-five degree angle from where his lead foot was pointing; his arms were extended to his sides, parallel to the ground, while his hands were balled up, except for his index finger, which pointed to the Dog and Fox masked shinobi. His eyes shifted from one 'Ne' to the next. He made sure to give them each a cold stare. He was rewarded by slight flinches from each.

He smiled.

The four took the gesture as a threat and immediately sprung into action; the Dragon and the Hawk, who were both to Sasuke's left, gripped their weapons tighter and charged at the lone enemy. The Dragon masked jumped to the air while the Hawk dashed low. Sasuke stayed motionless, noticing that at the moment the two shinobi dashed at him, the other two prepared themselves to unleash a couple of ranged Ninjutsu.

Time seemed to slow down for the four. The Dragon's and Hawk's slashes hit with a deadly precision. No sooner that the blade strikes hit that they were away from the site as two voices rang the names of the two jutsus that impacted were the wounded boy directly: "Raiton: Dendou Ryuunyuu, Suiton: Hahonryū:_ Bakurai no Jutsu_" (Lightning Release: Electric Influx, Water Release: Rapid Crasher: _Depth Charge Technique_). As the stream of high pressurized water, that came from the hands of the Dog-masked nin, impacted on the Uchiha, an electric pulse shot through the water and exploded upon contacting the skin of the target, the electric current shot six bolts of lightning that pierced and cauterized the wounds that they inflicted.

Silence settled once more after the ringing of the explosion left the ears of the present in the battlefield. The four ANBU level shinobi gripped their weapons once more as they commenced to approach what appeared to be the charred remains of a human being.

The Dog masked nin knelt down next to the body and commenced the inspction of it. Cautiously and readily prepared for any sort of reaction, he lowered his index and middle finger to his target's neck. He immediately pulled a kunai when he felt a pulse in his neck and struck swiftly and expertly, severing the jugular and proceeded to stab at the heart also.

"Mission Accomplished…" he said as he stood up and dusted himself. "…Uchiha Sasuke will no longer be a…." his comment abruptly stopped when he noticed the Uchiha standing next to him, completely unscathed. No signs of the most recent combat damage or weariness were noticeable. His eyes flickered in anger and turned to look at what the remains of the body, expecting to find a burnt log or another piece of…..

"….Junko…."

"You should learn to hide your emotions…" was the smug answer of Uchiha Sasuke. "…I thought Root was notorious for being the perfect assassins, not having any feelings, bred to follow orders, no sense of human understanding for the feelings that they harbor…" the Dog masked nin felt his blood commence to boil with every word he spoke "…during the fight, you had several muscle movements that indicated you wanting to move to her side…you in fact deflected several of my kunai that were aimed for her, while leaving others fly to hit your other members to die…." Sasuke's sight looked down towards the Hawk-masked nin and smirked. "…you should have seen the look on her face as you plunged the kunai deep into her heart… the disbelief, the horror, the sadness in her eyes…"

The taunted soldier stood up impassive and slowly turned towards Uchiha Sasuke, who stood smirking and looking down at him. "Yes…I should have hidden my emotions…but now…YOU WILL PAY!" and with that, his hands went into a flurry of hand seals and yelled out the name of his technique: "DOTON: DORYU-urk…!" his voice fell into a gurgle of blood as the Genjutsu blindfold that was covering his eyes was lifted. A kunai pierced his throat, all the way through the spinal chord. His hands fell limp to his sides and tears filled his eyes. He couldn't breath. He tried, but he couldn't. He stared traight into the eyes that were behind the Dragon shaped mask that stood in front of him, noticing the glazed pair of orbs behind the ivory item. His own eyes darted to the side, only to see Uchiha Sasuke leaning against a tree, a sprig of grass dangling playfully from his lips with his face was stoic, only to change to a slight smirk as the masked nin felt his eyelids grow heavy and succumbed to darkness.

--

Danzo and the two other elders watched stupefied as their four remaining 'Ne' captains finished each other off while Sasuke was waiting stoically in his original position; between the four, for the battle between the Genjutsu influenced nin to conclude. The sounds of their voices calling them to 'snap out of it' and 'wrong target' went unheard. They would have intervened the slaughter of the squads if Orochimaru hadn't been blocking their path, so all they could do was wait.

And speaking of the snake…

Orochimaru's gaze was upon the three elders, and they in turn, noticed that and tensed slightly. They fell into their practiced stances with ease, only to tense up once more when Orochimaru disappeared from their sight. A single thought passed throught the mind of the three when they felt the Snake's signature chakra right between the three of them….

'_Oh…fuck…__**'**_

--

"Amatsu Fuuin: Tsunagari no Kunou! (Heavenly Seal: Bond of Suffering)" rang Naruto's voice with pain as his hands slammed into the ground. The Sealing Circle where Hinata was standing started converging around the Metal kanji, as if they were being sucked in to where the Hyuga was. Slowly, the glow for the kanji of Fire died down and a trail of fire outlined the seal, only to dissipate once it was fully traced. Wind followed, then Lightning, Earth, and finally, Water. The Kanji for Metal glowed furiously as the five elements congealed within it and it was when Hinata screamed. Five tendrils, each of a different color that would correspond to the five elements rose from the seal and struck Hinata in five separate locations. The navy blue tendril, corresponding to water struck her on her left shin. The sky blue for wind struck her on her right shin. The green one for earth split in two struck her on her arms; whereas the yellow one for electricity struck her back, on her spinal column. Finally, the red one for fire struck her straight over the heart.

Slowly, a star-shaped mark, made of raging flames formed at the base of her neck, just above her right clavicle, glowing violently with the five colors of the elements used.

Naruto looked at how the jutsu was progressing. Once the five elements joined to manifest themselves as the chosen mark, it was time to make his move. He closed his eyes and focused himself for the final part of this jutsu

--

_Naruto's Mindscape_

"Gobi…" said Naruto as he shimmered inside the world he had created.

He stood in front of the wounded beast. Still licking his wounds from the failed attempt to strike against Raijuu and Kyubi. The five tailed dog gave at him a sneer. He was badly wounded and did not like everything that was happening to him. Just a few minutes ago, he started feeling something that was tugging at his own youki forcefully and slowly but surely, it started to take it away.

"_**What do you want, boy? After all the humilliation you have placed me, you still come to taunt me in my prison?**_"

"Gobi, I came to inform you of what I am about to do to you and your powers…"

"_**Oh? And what is it that you are going to do to me, boy? I can do nothing here, I cannot defend myself and yet you still come here to torture me? Tell me. Amuse me. You cannot kill me, yet you can imprison me… pathetic…I am pathetic…if only I hadn't listened to those Konoha bastards…**_"

"…you speak of Konoha…who sent you to do this…who sent you to try and kill me and those who I hold dear?"

"_**Why**_ _**should I tell you? It's not like I get anything from it…**_" he said with a smug grin.

"True…but I can offer you partial freedom…"

The Gobi glared at him, already knowing where this conversation was going. "_**You wish the summoning contract for the Demon Dogs, huh? Kukukuku, I never though that one like you would offer a deal like that…**_"

"You are wrong, Gobi, that was not what I was going to offer you. Yet, it would be a more viable option than permanently taking away three to four tails of power, leaving you greatly weakened, do you not agree?"

The Gobi stared at him. For the first time in his demonic life, he never thought that someone would be strong enough to strip his powers away from him. There was something about this kid, but he couldn't put his paw over it. He grinned a snout full of fangs. How could Naruto tell? After many, many years of meeting the Rokubi and the Kyubi, he managed to learn the different facial expressions; and the Gobi was definetly smiling.

"_**To become a lesser demon, or to be on parole for the rest of your existance…my honor and pride as a greater demon does not want to be under a collar and chain, yet, I would lose everything that I have earned through my power throughout the millenia…you drive a hard bargain, kid. Any rooms for requests here?**__"_

Naruto stood, motionless, staring straight into the demon dog's eyes. His silence was understood by him as he proceeded to speak. _**"Even though my pride is hurting, I ask of you to not use the summoning contract for menial tasks. We live for combat and we will die for combat, and we are a proud race. We will be loyal to whom holds the summoning contract, yet, we will not hesitate to bare our fangs if said person mistreats a single one of us. We are a pack, and if one of us is displeased, you will have to make up for it before you attempt to ask us a favor once more…**__"_

Naruto took in the information and gave a silent nod. He turned around and started to walk away. The Gobi had a questioning look on his face. _**"Do you not agree with what I said?**_" he asked, only to get a response before Naruto's form shimmered away. "It shall be done. Thank you, Gobi-san…and..you shall have your revenge…to me and to them..."

With a sudden and violent tug of power, the Gobi commenced howling with pain as he felt his chakra become forcefully pulled from him. He watched his reflection on the lake, staring in horror as a five star seal appeared on his forehead. Another surge of power rendered him helpless as he fell to the ground, motionless. His chakra was non-existent within him yet he knew it still existed, for he felt a link to it elsewhere. He laid there, motionless, trying to understand what had just happened, only to listen the maddened cackles of the Kyubi and Rokubi reverberate throughout the imprisoning sphere that he would have to call a home.

--

_Outside Naruto's Mindscape_

'_It_ _is time to finish this; Hina-chan, bear with me just for a few more seconds…_' thought the jinchuuriki. The fire star glowed more and more brighter, flashing the five colors in random patterns. He slowly lifted himself up and went into a second string of hand seals and opened his hands, his fingertips alighting themselves in a greenish-red flame as he struck the area around the seal as he sounded off the jutsu. "Ningenteki Jutsu: Shishou Fuuin! (Dual Technique: Four Emblem Seal)" and as his voice died down, the colored flashes died down. Two seals surrounded the star, seals that looked exactly like the ones Naruto has when he molds chakra and surround the spiral mark on his navel.

The seals and the mark faded into the skin, leaving it unmarred for the world to see. Hinata fell to her knees and started panting. Her body ached, her head throbbed, and something was off in her Chakra Circulatory System. She tried to muster enough chakra to her eyes and activate her Byakugan, yet she couldn't. She attributed to the sealing that had just taken place and decided to ask Naruto the moment she woke up from the long nap she was sure she was to take within seconds of now. She managed to face the rapidly approaching Yugito and Ino, and gave them a soft smile.

She was rewared by a pair of strong arms that held her close to their owner. Hinata's head leaned towards the well toned, yet lithe chest that belonged to Uzumaki Naruto, aka, Yosugi Yashiro and tried to speak, yet her voice was soft and almost a whisper. Her eyes began closing and as darkness consumed her for a well deserved rest, she heard the voice of Naruto as she faded in and out if conciousness, answering back her nearly unheard question. _"…sealing was successful…Gobi's chakra….rest now…."_

--

Ino and Yugito looked at the two as Naruto cradled Hinata. The smile on Naruto's features gave them a sense of peace and slowly, both of them, knelt down, each to one of his sides, and simply rested their heads to his shoulders. They didn't wish to bother the sleeping girl who just saved Naruto's life, so they took comfort in simply kissing Naruto gently on the cheeks, provoking a blush on both his and their features.

Naruto turned his head to one side and took Ino's lips un a sweet, chaste kiss; only to turn around and do the same to Yugito. He broke the kisses, anf once again focused on thr body that he was cradling between his arms.

"She's gonna be fine…" he said as he started to explain to them what happened "…the sealing took a toll on her body…" he stared at the girl, sensing the new chakra that coursed in her. "…unfortunately, she will have to start to learn how to control her Chakra once more. Good thing she's a Hyuga…" he chuckled. "…it'll be easier to re-train herself…"

"What exactly did you do, Naruto-kun?" asked the pale blonde kunoichi. Ino's attention was fixed on Hinata's sleeping frame. Her question was quickly followed up by one of Yugito's of the same nature.

"By using highly advanced seals in order to prevent a being from access any type of spiritual or mental energies, I have successfully diminished the capabilities of the Gobi by separating its chakra from its body and sealing it in two separate entities. Hinata houses the chakra of the Demon Dog, whereas I myself harbor the demon. The sealing technique that I used relies on the exixtance of both the Dead Demon Seal and the Double Master Seal that I have;with the Suffering Seal along with the Double Master Seal that I applied onto Hina-chan."

Both girls were silent for a few moments, letting the information sink in slowly. "So, what you're saying, Naru-kun…" asked Yugito. "…is that she can access the demon's chakra without fear of losing control to it?"

"That is partially correct, Yugito-hime…" he said with a sigh. "…even if she won't suffer the risk of losing her mind to the control of the Gobi, she still will suffer the same way I do with the chakra until she is strong enough to control the five tails of power that she now contains…but until that happens, she will have to re-learn all her control due to the second source of power that is now in her system…"

"…so…what do you mean by 'partially correct' then, Naruto-kun?" asked Ino. Her attentiveness turned towards the now hardened look at the horizon. The two of them had felt Naruto tense the moment the question was asked. His jaw clenched and his pulse increased slightly and his grip around Hinata tightened slightly.

"…" his mouth opened and closed, trying to form words, yet, he could not express what he wanted to say. His shoulders commenced to loosen up, yet fell in a defeated fashionby closing his eyes, he ransacked his brain for ideas on how to explain what was happening; but never got the opportunity. A sudden appeareance of two chakras placed his mind on high alert; '_how shaken and tired was I that I didn't sense them before?'_ he asked himself. Yugito and Ino felt the neighboring beings and stoood up in a heartbeat, both in between the two that approached and Naruto with Hinata; while Naruto slowly placed his arms under Hinata and proceeded to carry her bridal style as he stood up and turned around.

They noticed that the two that were approaching them stopped within twenty feet. One was a readhead with emerald green eyes that appeared to be around his early twenties, while the younger one was a sandy blonde with teal colored eyes and was holding a sand-colored; who looked no older than twelve. She was standing behind the older one, her face peeking every so often, looking at the foursome and hiding back.

"State your name and business…" were the simultaneous words that came out from Ino and Yugito's throats, their killer intent started leaking towards the two. They both knew Naruto was in no whay, shape, or form ready to fight. They had to defend him until then, they couldn't take any chances.

The young girl yipped in surprise and hid fervently behind the red head. Her left hand gripping tightly at the fabric that composed the shirt and tugged at him. He, on the other hand, reached out behind him with his only arm and brought her out. She refused to let go of his shirt with one hand, pulling the fabric over her face, yet with the other, she held onto the stuffed teddy bear as if her life depended on it.

"…my name…is…Gaara…Kaze no Gaara, and this is my younger sister…Suna no Temari…"

--

A/N: Hey Guys. I want to thank you all for the great words of encouragement. Thanks for helping me give Living Shrine flesh and bones. In this chapter, your votes will start flourishing, so I hope that you keep on pushing on your opinion.

I kinda missed the update mark by a couple of weeks, but I guess that's what happens when life gets in the way, ne? Well, I guess that that's for this chapter here, and I'll see you in the next update. Please remember to R&R!


	9. Chapter 8, Demonic History

_**Disclaimer**__: I do not own Naruto._

--

"…_my name…is…Gaara…Kaze no Gaara, and this is my younger sister…Suna no Temari…"_

--

The blonde male stared deeply into the emerald green eyes of the young girl. The dark rings that were forming around them gave him a sense of ill omen, yet he didn't feel anything threatning yet out of the girl. Slowly, the muscles on his face started moving as he spoke.

"It's a plea….sure….." were the words of one tired blonde who slumped backwords, a smile adorning his features and his head hitting a soft patch of earth that surprisingly rose out of the ground to meet his fall. Yugito and Ino went into alert at the sound of Naruto's voice and even more so with the ground adjusting itself to accommodate him. They immediately turned towards the two nins that stood in front of them and looked in awe at what they saw.

The teddy bear that the girl, Temari, held was no longer there, and instead, there was a hole in the ground at her feet and sand could be seen going into it. Her eyes showed fear, yet a determined look towards Naruto's direction gave the two female guards a minor sense of understanding.

It was her who shifted the earth to avoid their lover to strike the ground unprotected.

Their guards relaxed slightly. Both stood up to their true height and glanced at each other, before a smirk breaking on their faces and returning the smirk to the two newcomers.

"I guess that we're …" Yugito started.

"…gonna need to set up camp…" finished Ino.

The unspoken agreement between both of them caught the four concious people in the clearing by surprise. They all broke into a light chuckle and each went a different direction after discussing what each should acquire for the camp.

--

After about half an hour, camp was finally set. Ino had secured some dried up wood for a fire while Yugito, with her enhanced senses due to the two-tailed cat's influence had managed to secure a boar that was roaming around the forest looking for truffles. She secured some of said truffels and brought them back for cooking also.

Kaze no Gaara and Sabaku no Temari, on the other hand, were in charge of obtaining water. Gaara had taken charge of that while Temari stayed next to the unconcious couple. It had taken a few minutes of assurance from the red head that everything would be ok, and that if anything would happen, her sand would help her out, giving him enough time to come back, before she relinquished the hold on his garments. All that time, she spent it looking at both of them, a tinge of jealousy in her eyes. Gaara, on the other hand, found a small river not far from where they were, so he filled up the canteens and a few waterskins for the morning.

Everyone was silent. Most of the time, the four would steal a glance at the sleeping couple and then focus once more on the meal in front of them. It wasn't until Temari broke the silence when the conversations actually began.

"….ne….is Naruto-nii-san….and that black haired girl….you know…." A small blush crept on her cheeks, turning them rosy pink. She hid her face into her bear and mumbled something into it, muffling the words from the three onlookers.

Yugito let out a snicker. She had understood perfectly what the little girl had said, yet she chose to keep it to herself. Gaara and Ino stared at each other, looked at the remaining snickering nin, and back to Gaara's sister before he arched an eyebrow in amusement.

"Do you mean if they are in love?" was Yugito's response to the muffled question.

The pink cheeks became more flushed as more blood came to her face. It was a good thing that it was hidden behind Mr. Shnookums, or they would be laughing at her. She nodded, asserting the question that was asked to her.

Gaara and Ino looked at each other, a smile across their faces, realizing the nature of the question and the reason for hiding herself behind her bear. Yugito looked at Ino and then went back into her boar flank and truffles_. "Damn, this is good food…"_ she thought to herself. Ino looked at Temari and Gaara and explained.

"They are in love. We are in love. They…" she pointed at Yugito, who was in the middle of a huge bite into her piece of meat and looked up with a blank expression, a piece of meat dangling from her mouth before it was sucked in and mangled between her fangs. Her attention went back to her food almost instantly. Gaara, Temari and Ino sweat-dropped at the sight as Ino kept on talking. "…are in love. Truth be told, the three of us are his lovers and he treats us all the same."

Gaara had a solemn expression on his face. He wasn't unaware of polygamy, yet it was kind of a surprise that the four shinobi that he found were in fact part of a harem. Temari, on the other hand, her face had shot up from the safety of her teddy bear and everyone could see the bright crimson color of her face. "So…so…th-that means…." Ino saw a slight look of disappointment in Temari's face and said look didn't go unnoticed by the other two. Gaara's eyes hardened at the sleeping couple in the distance. His eyes focused solely on the other male in the group.

Ino and Yugito looked at each other and gave a resigned sigh.

"Look, if you have a crush on him, you have to be forward. He's a knucklehead when it comes to romantic feelings that people have towards him. He won't realize it unless you tell him straight to his face…but then again…he won't pay attention to it unless they're sincere…" Yugito said.

Gaara snapped his head towards the blonde duo. Were they actually insinuating to include _his_ baby sister into a harem? Oh they had better not! His eyes started shooting daggers at the two and they sensed the mild KI coming from him.

"Don't worry, Naruto isn't one to toy with someone's feelings." Said Yugito to Gaara and then turned towards Temari. "He's direct and will try and go straight to the point in these cases. It may hurt if you don't get the answer you want, but in the long run, his decisions have always been the right choice, in my experience." The look of disappointment from Temari and anger from Gaara seemed to fade, as the Kumo nin spoke. The quartet minus Temari kept on eating, the youngest of them lost in thought.

Once dinner was finished, Yugito approached the one armed nin. His hair, unruly and wild, short like when she first met Naruto, flickered orange in the fire's light. Gaara was meditating, his legs in the lotus position, while his left hand rested in a half Dhyana mudra. A spark of interest appeared on Yugito's look as she placed her eyes on the missing right arm of the nin. "Gaara-san…," she broke the silence. The fiery red head slowly opened his eyes and focused himself on her. He responded with a single 'hmm', letting her know that she had his attention, before his eyes fixed himself on Ino, who was showing Temari how to put makeup on. "…I would like to inquire, if I may, your arm…was it…" her voice broke as her eyes turned to look at the two blondes who were looking at their reflections on a small mirror Ino had brought, admiring their faces with make up on. Gaara smirked as he did a slight nod, but enough movement for Yugito to catch it with her peripheral vision. "…how…?"

The red colored yukata that was already loosely open and draping over his shoulders fell around his hips with a shrug. Gaara proceeded to crack his neck, his eyes closing with the first readjusting of the vertebraes and opening once more as the last popping noise and his satisfaction of the deed was insured. Underneath the yukata, covering his chest, was a black, skin tight, sleeveless shirt; commonly known as a wife beater. Yugito winced at the horrible scar that was located in place of an arm socket, and moved her sight away for a split second. "She wasn't in control of her actions…" said him. "…the demon took advantage of her and made her lose control." Gaara reached with his remaining hand and grasped his shoulder tightly. "Sometimes, I still feel the pain of if being crushed under hundreds of pounds of her sand, and the sensation of every one of my nerves as it was ripped out…yet…" Yugito stayed silent. She gave him a look signifying she was listening. "…I love her the same. I was against my father in doing this with her…she is my own flesh and blood, she is my family…I just can't imagine living this world without her…I sometimes wished that it had been me who was the youngest so I could endure the pain that she is having to live with…"

The giggles and laughter coming from Temari broke Gaara out of his serious reverie and made him focus once more on his sister. Her joyful sounds calmed him and brought forth a smile to his own face. "We had heard of the prowess of the 'Bolt of Heavens', Yashiro-san, and his sealing abilities. We heard that he was the one that strengthened the seal on the container of the Nibi no Nekomata…." The sudden flinch in Yugito's self didn't go unnoticed by him, yet he continued speaking. "…which was something that was needed for the poor sealing done with my sister; so….we decided to take a tour of the shinobi world and try to locate him…we heard he had gone to Konoha, yet as we were travelling there…you miraculously appeared in a gold and blue flash…," he said as he reached to his side pouch and pulled out a strange tri-pronged kunai. "…right next to this…" and with that, he handed it over to a very surprised Yugito. With all the commotion that had happened, she had forgotten to retrieve the special kunai. She gladly took it and placed it away in her own pouch. "…what I want to ask of him…is to fix my sister's faulty seal. With that favor, comes the favor of Sunagakure no Sato. He and his family will be welcomed there at all times, and that includes his multiple wives. I can assure that, as eldest son of the Kazekage…"

Yugito was speechless. To imagine that the Kazekage was actually giving free reign to her husband to come and go as he pleases in Wind Country…

"That is up for him to decide…" she said as she looked back to the sleeping couple that layed inside a sleeping bag. "…but he hates people that suffer the same that we do…"

The suna nin raised an eyebrow in amusement and let out a small chuckle. He had heard that the container of the Nekomata had taken a man in matrimony, yet he didn't expect for it to be the person he was looking for. His eyes layed once upon the flames that danced to an unheard song. "I want to thank you. It's been a while that my sister had experienced friendship and laughter other than mine or our other brother…" and with that, Gaara stood up and walked off to where his sleeping arrangements were and layed down.

A smile crept on Yugito's face.

'_You're welcome, Gaara-san….'_

--

The night passed relatively fast for the six shinobi and the light of the morning sun started shining on the encampment. It's warm rays bathed their faces and some stirred, while others ignored.

Naruto was one to ignore the rays of the morning sun. His exhaustion added to the factor that he didn't want to wake up, and on top of that, he was feeling something that was hugging him and he was holding very dearly. He was in heaven. He didn't need anything else…except maybe ramen. But this didn't apply to the person he was holding.

Hinata awoke slowly and found herself in the arms of a man. Not any man, but of Naruto. She had awaited this moment for so long that she took a moment to take in the sight. His silky golden hair, his tanned skin, his whiskered cheeks…his tongue outside of his mouth….snoring…well, she could omit that part, but still, it was starting to be a great day…that is until she sensed something odd with herself. She started to channel chakra around her body, but something was off….her control was shot, gone! A slight indignation came to her mind. She knew that there were going to be consequences, just not at this magnitude! 'I have to start training again…might as well start now….' She thought as she tried to move but found herself held tightly by the man she was sleeping next to. She huffed and pried herself out of the gentle, protective, yet vice grip Naruto held on her and proceeded to warm up and commence on chakra excercises.

Others woke up around the same time as Hinata and looked up when they noticed the struggle and grunting coming from the blond and blue haired pair's location. Gaara and Temari were already awake, as seeing how he sleeps around six hours to keep her sister company the rest of the day and found the sight amusing. Ino was yawning, trying to flick the mental cobwebs away and wake up. One could see how she definetly wasn't a morning person. Yugito…well, apparently, she inherited more than just chakra from the two tailed cat demon. She seemed to not really care about if it was day or night. She was napping under the shadow of a tree and was fully enjoying it, proven by some purrs that came from her general direction.

Hinata, as she was walking, sensed two foreign presences amongst her and turned around in a ready stance. She noticed the blonde girl and red headed man approach her slowly and recognized them as the children of the Kazekage of Sunagakure. She had no idea why they were here yet she also noticed that Ino was not alerted by their prescence and her guard lowered a bit. Gaara spoke first, introducing himself and his sister, which he proceeded to push gently from her hiding place behind him once more. The indigo haired ANBU chatted with them for a few minutes, introducing herself and her status and getting updated on what she missed entirely while being passed out after the sealing. She found out the reasons to their being with them and they offered to help her with her chakra control, offer which gladly took.

Ino finally woke up and noticed the trio training. She proceeded to use some of her canteen water to freshen up and joined the three of them, making idle chatter to pass the time while the rest of the group woke up. They weren't on a mission anymore, so they could rest up for a bit before returning.

--

Naruto slept through noon before he even started stirring from his chakra exhaustion induced slumber, noticing at first that his tongue was hanging from one side of his mouth, and then that he was missing something, which he couldn't place a finger on it at first; but as the awakened state slowly approached him more and more, the previous' day's events dawned on him and his senses went into full alert, springing up to a defensive stance from his laying down position with a two objects in his hands.

To say that he scared the _shite_ out of the unsuspecting five was underrated. They were peacefully enjoying their lunch when a sudden wave if KI that was directed from Naruto's position washed upon them and choked the food in their throats. They immediately turned around, alarmed and withdrawing their weapons in case of an enemy attack, only to face fault as they noticed the sun-kissed nin go 180 degrees on them and put a toothbrush in his mouth. He grinned with said utensil sticking out from his facial orifice and made his way towards the now calm group of eaters, plopping on the ground next to Gaara and Yugito.

"…tho..waff bweenffs loo doo eeelle?…" (so…what brings you two here?) the inflection at the end of the sentence giving it the sound of a question. An animesque bead of sweat appeared on everyone's head at his lack of manners, yet Yugito met it with a hearty chuckle.

And a slap to the back of his head….accompanied by a sickly sweet voice which Gaara recognized, being the one his girlfriend uses when he makes her mad.

"Honey….what have we spoken about speaking with your mouth full?"

Rubbing his sore spot, not before everyone caught the chakra being accumulated in him and the huge mischevious grin that grew on his face almost instantly. He removed the toothbrush from his mouth and spat to the side the bubbly substance before speaking.

"…hmm…let's see….if my memory serves correctly…" he began. Raising his index finger and placing it on his chin, he continued. "…the ONLY time I'm allowed to speak with a mouth full…."

Wood snapped.

Everyone turned to look a Kumo nin whose face was bright red, broken chopsticks in hand, her Killer Intent rising slowly, her eyes glaring daggers at the blonde.

"Don't you dare…finish that sent-"

"…Is when I'm eating you…"

Silence was the loudest noise made conciously by anyone in the group, only to be broken after a few seconds when they all realized the implications of said declaration.

Gaara began snorting. Hinata and Ino looked dumbstrucked, a grin on their faces, yet dumbstruck. Only Temari looked up to all, not quite understanding. The redhead's snorts became harder to control, and burst into a full blown laughter…

Only to suddenly stop and his face drain of color. His hand, unconciously went to cover that which makes any man a man. His face glued to the kunai…a kunai that was embedded in Naruto's most sacred of places…only to see it fall after a burst of chakra smoke erupted from where he was sitting. It was then when Gaara let out a breath he held in him that he relaxed…just a bit. His hand never left his region, protecting…fervently….

Yugito stood up and started chasing a very, very dead male as his laughter flooded the campsite. Weapons were thrown, parried and returned by the offender, Yashiro a.k.a. Naruto, to Yugito, only to be thrown at his person once more. The three kunoichi and shinobi that were still eating, couldn't help but smile at the antics of the married couple, yet a tug on the male Suna nin by his sister drained the blood from his face when she asked him to explain what Yashiro had said.

--

After an hour of excercising and about half an hour of silence, Naruto returned to camp with Yugito in tow, looking worse for wear, yet both with a rosy blush on their faces and covered a bit in sweat. Needless to say, they had missed each other in the few days they had been apart and had to make up for any lost time.

The two blondes sat down once again in the clearing where the campsite was and watched Hinata train on her chakra control once more. Gaara and Temari were sitting next to a tree, Temari making sand castles with the compressed minerals from the ground. Ino was finishing packing up some more things from camp. A pang of guilt entered the newly instated Konoha nin as the weight of last night's events settled in once more.

Shaking the toughts out of his head, spoke, adressing Hinata and the Suna nins.

"Oi! Hina-chan! Gaara-san! Tema-tan! I need to speak with you three."

The three adressed the call and slowly made their way towards the two blondes. Ino was finished by the time they were all together and joined them.

"Hina-chan. How is your control progressing?" was his first question. He placed a strong arm around her neck, bringing her close to him. A tick appeared on Ino's temple, but a slight brush from a strong hand over hers calmed her down.

"It's progressing fast…" began her explanation. "…thanks to the chakra training I had in the Hyuuga estates and the Jyuken training, my control was very refined. I'm not quite at what I was, but I need a few more days. I believe I stand at high chuunin-low jonin level…" she said. "…but I still have to work on it much more if I wish to still be ANBU captain…."

Naruto nodded at her statement. Gaara and Temari also nodded, seeing how they had initially helped her when she woke up.

"And you two…" Naruto turned to look at the foreigners. "What brings you to the Land of Fire? I assume it has to do with me, because you haven't left since you introduced yourselves yesterday, am I right?"

Sandy blonde and fiery red nodded at the self-answered question. Teal met light green as siblings stared at each other for a moment, Gaara nodded at Temari before looking back at the only person who could help them. The youngest of the group started to undo her obi.

"Yosugi Yashiro…" spoke Gaara as his sister continued, folding the obi that held her robe.

"…we hail from Sunagakure, on my behalf, not the Kazekage's..." Gaaras voice broke. A sob choked his throat and tears started building in his eyes. Temari stood up and turned around, slowly sliding her yukata off, exposing her back.

An indigo colored haired girl and three blondes gasped at the sight.

Gaara's kneeling form made it easy for him to bow down, his head touching the dirt on the ground. His tears falling freely from his eyes, mixing with the dirt beneath him. "I've done as much as I can…please…help my sister…."

A seal was glowing red on the small of her back, her naked body shining alabaster under the afternoon sky. Cracks outlined the seal in many places, in others, the seal was blurry. Ichibi no Fuuin, the seal of the one tailed demon, Shukaku was failing.

Naruto contemplated the situation and looked at Gaara's pleading form. His eyes closed and removed his arm from around Hinata as his head rested onto his hands. It would take time. Time that he didn't know if he had enough with the seal being that close to breaking, and blood. Blood he had just restored.

"There is a chance…" he said, slightly muffled by his hands. "…but I need time…" he raised his eyes, a look of determination was strong, but it disappeared when he tought back to last night. "…I can't assure you anything…not after last night…" His head dropped once again.

His wife sensed the sudden stiffening of his muscles and leaned her head on his shoulder. A small hand intertwined his.

"Naruto…what's wrong?" She asked.

That voice…that voice could raise him or break him…a long drawn out sigh gave Naruto enough time to break the news to the people around him. Hinata and Ino sensed the distress as Yugito spoke to her husband, their fianceé. Something was wrong, very wrong.

"…the sealing last night…"

All eyes were on him, he turned and looked onto all those who expected an answer for his now gloomy behaviour. He took another deep breath and spoke.

--

"Kukukuku…Sasuke-kun…it is time to go. These three weren't enough for me to get warmed up. I can't believe that they fell so easily! Indeed they put up a fight, but like fish out of the water…" his serpentine gaze laid upon the fallen bodies of Koharu, Homura, and Danzo. "..they were always out of Sarutobi-sensei's league…"

Standing behind him, a body stood, tears of blood streaming down it's souless eyes. The marks of age weren't present in the body of the late Sandaime Hokage of Konoha. His body brimmed with the long lost energy of his youth. The three council members fell to the uncontrolled wrath of 'The Professor', thanks to Orochimaru's **Kuchiyose: ****Keiyoushi Edotensei. **Not only would it restore the life to the dead, but it could return the youth to the once withered soul and there wasn't a need for a control seal to be implemented into the resurrected body, the seal was given while the justu is being channeled, leaving the summoned being fully aware of what he was doing, without any chance to stop himself.

Only his memory and feelings remained.

"Truly a wonderful technique of mine!" exclaimed the snake. "Oh! Sarutobi-sensei! You should see the look on your face! It's priceless! You massacred them so beautifully!"

Orochimaru turned to the living puppet that was standing behind him. The tears kept on streaming from his eyes, never stopping.

"Do you need me for anything else….Orochimaru…" came the ragged, yet strong voice from the puppet.

"Kukukuku….sensei…it seems the student has surpassed the master, don't you think?"

"Yes…Orochimaru….sama…."

With a puff of chakra smoke, the body of a former Ne nin crumbled to the ground, the soul of Sarutobi Sasuke leaving the temporal body, returning to the depths of the underworld, waiting for it's summoning once more.

The now dead team mates of the Third and the war hawk that once fought against him for the title of Hokage were disposed of. Orochimaru's plans couldn't be going any better. With a sinister grin and a quick flick of his wrist, the faces of the three corpses melted off, leaving nothing but unblemished skin as slick as one's back. No signs of there ever being a face were left.

Sasuke grimaced at the jutsu working. He never enjoyed watching his new sensei melt people's faces off for whatever reason, but it would be of use if he were to gain more power and confront said demon that is said to come from Konoha's direction. Licking his lips with anticipation, a single thought passed through his mind.

'_I'm going to kill you, Itachi…just wait…you will fall by my blade….'_

--

"Temari-chan…"spoke Naruto. "…I assume you know of the existence of the tailed demons?" she nodded, without turning around, and he continued. "…do you speak with your own?"

This information was rather shocking for those who weren't aware, namely Hinata and Ino. Gaara was aware because his sister would tell him about the talks the raccoon demon would have with her if she ever closed her eyes for more than a minute. Yugito, well, she's a jinchuuriki as well.

Temari nodded at his question once again. She kneeled and picked up her discarded yukata, never turning around to face the man who was questioning her, the first man, other than her family who has seen her completely naked.

"….what is he saying right now?"

Temari froze at the question. Her head snapped towards the blonde's direction, fear, pain, and terror in her eyes.

"H-he…h-he's afraid…and he…he doesn't want to die….he says…he says he doesn't like you….you smell of foxes…that you smell like him…."

Naruto sighed at the revelation, leaving the rest with a questioned look in their semblance. Slowly standing up, the Konoha nin closed his eyes when he was at his full height and proceeded to have a light conversation with one of his tenants.

--

_Inside Naruto's Mindscape_

Shimmering into existence near the entrance to an ominous forest, Naruto didn't need to take a single step for a massive fox with nine tails flailing behind him, make an appearance in front of him; a dead rabbit, half his size on his snout, fresh blood dripping from his maws.

"I see you have been enjoying the treats I've sent you, Kyuubi."

A feral grin adorned the fox's face as he released the bloody carcass to the ground. He licked the blood of his snout and sat down on his hind legs. **"What do you want, gaki?"** was the giant fox's question.

"I come simply for answers, fox…like why does the Ichibi no Shukaku fears you…loathes you…."

"**A demon needs not a reason to hate another being. We are born out of the hatred of humans, given a form through their dreams and finally, strength by their fears. As you know…"** the Kyuubi stopped for a moment before he dug his maws into the prey he had captured and ripped some of it's delicious and tender meat. Naruto waited patiently.

"…**not all of us were demons…"** he said before licking his snout. That was some good lunch there! **"…some of us were considered celestial beings before we became called demons…angels if you will…"**

Naruto's brow lifted at the fox's explanation. This peaked his interest, just a bit.

A tiny bit.

"…**take you for example…you are the reincarnation of the Rokubi, the six tailed weasel, bringer of lightning-"**

"Rider of Storms, Bolt of Heavens…I get you're point, Kyuubi, what does that have to do with the Shukaku hating you?" interrupted Naruto. It was the demon's turn to lift a brow in amusement. **"Oh, interrupting me now?"**

"Sorry, carry on."

"**Hmph…"** He took another bite of his delicious, tender, moist, bloody meat and took his time savoring the flavor and texture, annoying his jailor just enough for him to make him clear his throat**. "…The Ichibi no Shukaku was the first of us to be born. He was born as a symbol of the night. He was there to protect those who believed the spirits that would roam would attack them while the sun was out. The faith of humanity was placed over something that was conjured by fear. He came to existence to protect, yet, power corrupts, am I right? His lust for power let him to terrorize those who created him. The fear he instilled led to create something that would overpower the one tailed raccoon…"**

"**Nibi…"** was a shocked response coming from the jailor of the tailed beast that stood before him.

"…**munch munch yesh…gulp yes...the Two Tailed cat….and when she lost herself in the lust for power? Enter Isonade, the three tailed aquatic demon who could change shape to any marine animal she wanted…then..."**

"…wait…_she_?"

"**She was vain…what can I say? If she saw a prettier animal than the one she was, she would change to it…" **the Kyuubi shrugged his shoulders**. "…then came Yonbi, the cockatrice demon, half rooster, half snake, poisonous….very bad….Houkou, the five tailed demon dog…now he knew how to party! He could control almost every element! Combine them too!"** A feral grin came on the fox's face. **"But that mutt wasn't very adept at it…he usually would fling stuff around uncontrollably…thus the- "**

"_**I CAN HEAR YOU, YOU FLEA BAG!"**_ came a roar from the beach area of Naruto's mind.

The Kyuubi roared in laughter at the Gobi while the container stifled a chuckle at the dog demon's situation.

"**Thus, the Rokubi was born…but unlike other celestial beings…HE LIKE TO PRANK PEOPLE AND DEMONS ALIKE!" **

"…_**..kekekekekeke….."**_ The Weasel's laughter surrounded the area.

Naruto was taking in the information slowly, trying to figure out where this was all going. He motioned the fox to continue speaking, which he complied after another bite of juicy rabbit flesh.

"**Because the weasel refused to help people, Kaku, the seven tailed badger came to existence. He was a sneaky one. Hard to track down if he ever wanted to. He was the one who initially taught you humans the art of stealth and camouflage…"** the Kyuubi grinned at Naruto's expression. They had learned their ninja techniques from demons…?

This was way too much information….

"**Ohh! But it gets better! That badger refused to help after you humans started to grow more and more powerful. You started training, in hopes of defeating the demons yourselves…and guess what happened then…?"** asked the Kyuubi.

"We…failed, didn't we?" was the shinobi's response.

"**Royally. Humankind believed that nothing could stop the previous demons from running amok, so the Hachibi, the snake was born. His eight tails contained the keys to the Demon World, to different areas. He was supposed to be the strongest of them all, with the power to subdue them and send them back to where they should be and not bother humans ever again…**" He grinned once more. **"…but lo! You humans feared the one who did nothing to you! Claiming that he was evil by holding the keys to the place where we come from! Saying that he could unleash the gates of Hell and bring about many more of our kind, and you sent a lone, brave, and Stupid man, stupid with a capital S, by the way; to try and stop a demon. He was defeated and his blade, the Grass Cutter, came to the Hachibi's clutches, or maws, fangs….whatever he used to wield it…and his powers were greatly enhanced…"**

"So…are you telling me….that you came into existence because of us? To destroy that which we created? And yet, we never learned from our mistakes, didn't we?"

"**Correct, whelp." **

Naruto expected an answer like that, yet…

"…you still haven't answered my question, fox. Why does he hate you…"

The Kyuubi licked his paws, savoring the delicious taste of the blood. Even if it wasn't real and he didn't need to eat, it quenched his bloodlust. With a serious expression on his face, the Kyuubi turned to the blonde before him and slowly lowered himself down to his level. He made eye contact with him and grinned a sadistic smile on his snout. An eerie and blood laced tone filled the air as he spoke in a quiet, yet terrifying whisper.

"…**how would you feel to find those you love and care slaughtered right in front of you? Being helpless to do anything because a being of unlimited power stands in front of you?"**

Naruto shivered at the thought. His wife and two girlfriends flashed before his eyes. The late Sandaime's face, as little as he could remember, the Raikage and all those who trained him in Kumo…his fists tightened into a ball and forced the thoughts out of his mind. He regained his composure and stared back at the demon.

"**...opposite to common knowledge…we demons still love….and I took everything away from those who refused to subdue to me….thus why I am the king of the Biju; boy…but then again…power does drive beings mad…and…."** He said as he raised himself and lowered his snout once more into the meat that was lying before him**. "…some humans proved to be more than capable of taking on demons…"**

Naruto nodded and shimmered away from his mental realm, leaving a silent Gobi, a thinking Rokubi, and a Kyuubi cackling madly…

--

Naruto's eyes fluttered open once more. A frown adorned his face as the information flowed steadily into him once more. A few seconds passed in the real world while he had his chat with his tenant, so the five people waited for an answer.

"I'll do my best…"

Tears of laughter and joy fell from both Temari and Gaara. The young girl finished tying her obi and launched herself at the older blonde, whereas Gaara stood up and gave him his hand in a firm hold and handshake.

Naruto released the handshake with Gaara and proceeded to place both hands on Temari's shoulder. He then bent his knees and stood eye to eye with the girl. She caught a slightly pained expression on his face, and felt her own redden up. Turning her head away, and covering it with her sleeves was all that could be done if she didn't want him to realize she was blushing because of him.

"…ne…Shukaku…" Naruto whispered in a tongue not his own. Temari suddenly looked up and stared into his eyes, her blush fading almost instantly. The Yugito understood the conversation, knowing the demonic tongue from the Nibi, but stayed quiet and listened, leaving the others to their own imagination of what was going on.

"…I know what happened…and for all that bastard fox did….for what it's worth….I'm sorry…."

Temari's eyes grew large. The Raccoon demon in her became silent.

"…I won't harm you, Shukaku…I just want you to let her sleep…that is all I'm going to do…regulate your influence in her, but you must let me cooperate…"

The blonde girl's teal eyes rolled to the back of her head, and came back in a four pointed star shaped iris, with four diamonds around it. She spoke in a demonic tone as she asked a question to the blonde that was kneeled in front of her.

"…**do you promise to not harm me or her? I do not wish to die…yet if she dies…I die…and if I die…she dies…I know solitude in this body…I wish to enjoy that which is in the outside world…grant me that, and the girl will sleep. I will sleep with her, breath with her, eat with her, listen with her, I want her senses….that is all…"**

Naruto nodded and her eyes returned to normal. He felt her lose her balance and caught her. She was sleeping safe and soundly.

Gaara's eyes grew in alarm at what that meant. He immediately placed his gauntlet on and readied himself to announce a warning. Yugito intervened and assured him that nothing would happen. The suna warrior loosened up a bit as Naruto stood up.

"We move to Konoha. I shall fix the seal there…" he said in a stoic tone. And with that, he started the trek back to his new village, with the other four following closely behind.

--

A/N – Maaaa…..it's been a while since I've uploaded…and man…I missed writing. I've had a hard time with three jobs, so I didn't have that much time to actually write much except a drabble here and there. Well, I hope you enjoy this chapter and like the little twists that I have planned. Not as long as I would have wanted the chappy to be, but at least, I'm giving y'all something new to read.

Have a good one and leave a mark signifying you read this chapter!

Translations:

**Kuchiyose: ****Keiyoushi Edotensei: **Summoning: True Impure World Resurrection


	10. Chapter 9, Strange Meetings

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

--

The trek back to Konoha was steady and went without a hitch. They arrived at the gates of the city roughly by the end of the third day of being away. Night was approaching fast, dusk would settle, roughly in about an hour.

Temari had slept soundly for the voyage, occasionally stirring while being carried on his big brothers' back; not being able to sleep for a few years would do that to you on the first time your head would hit a pillow. Gaara was on cloud nine. The fact that he had managed to track down the one and only person known for his 'experience' in this particular sealing field; and agreed to help out his younger sister was something he had achieved only in his dreams, and thusly, the rest of the journey back to the hidden village in Fire Country was done with a huge smile plastered on his face.

Naruto was quiet throughout the journey. No one would dare to direct their attention to him; for he always lost in deep thought, because of the task that he had agreed to complete: the re-sealing of the Ichibi no Shukaku; it was something that had to be approached with utmost care and consideration. He'd have to request aid from experienced sealers from the Hokage herself, just to insure the success of the act, but was sure that at the moment, it wouldn't be that much of a problem obtaining a bit of assistance. He had single-handedly saved the entirety of the village of Konoha, and thanks to Ino's assistance, there were no casualties from the battle, just some wounded.

Ino, Yugito, and Hinata would chat amongst themselves on occasion, trying to figure out the new steps in the now very complicated relationship that they would have to establish amongst themselves and possible future candidates. The conversations were short and concise, not bothering with heavy details until they were all settled down and ready for a long and strenuous talk about the situation they were in.

--

"I am Kaze no Gaara, the eldest son of the Yondaime Kazekage; and she…" he said, turning around slightly and revealing his sleeping package. "…is my younger sister, Suna no Temari. We were escorted here by your ninjas when we encountered them on our way here." Gaara spoke as he was given his and his sisters' travel permits and passports. "We come in behalf of my father, the leader of Sunagakure, to establish a treaty with the Hokage."

Genma inspected the paperwork and simply arched his eyebrows. Everything was official, and everything was in order. It was a surprise to see the envoys of the Hidden Village of Sand here without any prior announcement, but taking a look behind the siblings, he didn't doubt their words. He returned the paperwork and stepped aside.

Two blondes were up next. The senbon chewing jounin recognized Naruto, but he didn't know who the girl next to him was. The sun-kissed boy diligently gave Genma his newly signed (although somewhat demon-scorched) paperwork and Yugito gave him hers. To say he was shocked was just the tip of the iceberg. The girl with Kumogakure paperwork had Uzumaki's last name!

"She's my wife…" Naruto explained. "...and she's here to apply for citizenship as a member of my family." Genma did a double take and nodded. He immediately recognized the Hyuuga and the Yamanaka, so he did the once over on their papers and the deal was done.

He stepped aside and let the rag-tag team of people pass through the gates. But they hadn't been inside for ten seconds, when he called out again.

"Hey…Naruto-san!" he said as the six were just through passing the gates. The blonde in question turned around, ready to answer the call; only to find both jounins that were on guard duty, bowing down low to him. "Thank you for your help…if it wasn't for you…we have no idea of the outcome of the battle and the death toll would've been incredible…so thank you very much."

Naruto wasn't surprised, yet he motioned for them to stop. "It's my duty as a citizen and ninja of Konoha, to fight for the village where my wives will live, no? Please don't feel the need to bow to me. I just did what I had to do." He smiled and kept on walking; leaving two very perplexed jounin guards at the gate, a chuckling redhead, and three blushing females behind him; and all the while, Naruto's head was running a mile a minute, trying to figure out the proper procedure to start the risky seal strengthening procedure that had to be done as soon as possible. It wasn't until a couple of minutes later, about half a mile into the city when he realized what exactly he had told the guard. He stopped dead in his tracks and turned around, only to see the still blushed girls and the chuckling boy. The blonde was red as a beet, knowing well the implications of his words; and now, he'd have to find a way to make it up for it.

--

Tsunade was not having a good day. Just today, she had finished signing and inspecting all the damage, repair, and injury reports caused by the Gobi attacking Konoha two days ago. On top of that, she has an additional two days worth of paperwork lying on her desk from the previous two days she didn't manage to get through…and she was now dreading tomorrow, with more paperwork to do. (A/N: I'm guessing she'd kill for some sake at the moment.)

"I'd kill for sake at the moment." She said out loud. (A/N: Told you so.) "Why does Shizune or Sakura take my alcohol from me every day? It's not like I don't get work done when I'm drunk…"

"That's true, but last time you did work while intoxicated, you decreed that 12 year olds were legal to drink, whether they were shinobi or not." Tsunade was interrupted by her assistant, Shizune, the brown-haired medic nin, as she walked into the office with a small tray. "I've seen you working diligently all day, trying to get the village back on its feet since that attack two days ago…" She approached the desk with a sake dish and about three servings worth in a container. "You deserve a small break."

Tsunade smiled at her protégé's consideration. She poured herself a drink and savored the tingling sensation of the sake sliding down her throat.

"Ahh…just what I needed. Thank you, Shizune."

She simply 'hmm'd' an answer, while organizing some papers on the desk, taking some completed reports and filing them. "Oh, by the way…"

"What is it, Shizune?"

"Naruto is on his way here, to the tower. Scouts had located him and five others in the forest trail back to the village a few hours ago..."

"And why was I not informed?" The Hokage's voice sounded a bit annoyed.

"Because, Tsunade-sama, if I had informed you of this, you wouldn't have focused on the paperwork at hand, and wouldn't have finished in time for him to be here..." Shizune responded calmly.

"…"

"…and as I was saying, Tsunade-sama, Hinata Hyuuga and Yamanaka Ino are with him, but it's the other three that interest me. He's here with the Kazekage's eldest son, Kaze no Gaara, and youngest daughter, Suna no Temari. He's also with another girl; that after a bit of research, we found that her name is Yugito, an-" The sound of the small saucer hitting the desk interrupted Shizune's report. She turned around and saw that Lady Tsunade had disappeared from the office and she assumed was on her way to greet them downstairs. "She left…"

Shizune kept mumbling to herself as she finished tidying up the office. She picked up the saucer and the remaining sake container and took it away.

--

The way to the Hokage tower was…unexpected.

There were many witnesses to the battle that had happened not less than a week ago, and some are still remembering the look of the boy/man who saved them from the beast that was the five-tailed demon dog; the Gobi. The fact that he took the demon head on and survived, looking perfectly fine, has sent many into a paranoid state of mind. I mean, if he can stop a demon…then, who can stop him?

Gaara noticed those looks on many a villager's face. He recognized them well, for he had seen those same stares and body actions when they would speak of his sister back in his own village. Gaara stepped to Naruto's right and started paying extra close attention, in case someone wanted to try and hurt any of his new friends. Yugito noticed and mimicked the redhead's action, stepping to his man's left side. Naruto seemed to be in his own little world, so they assumed he wasn't paying attention to his surroundings; and that meant, someone else needed to do so for him.

By the time Naruto realized he was standing in front of the Hokage tower, he took notice that he was flanked on all sides by his friends and companions. At some point, Hinata had moved to Naruto's right, and Gaara had taken the lead. Ino was behind him with Yugito to his left. The four of them all had a serious expression on their faces.

"Why the sour faces, guys?" He asked, and then looked in the direction where they were all motioned towards with slight gestures. He saw many people talking amongst themselves, some sneering, and some turning away as soon as he made eye contact with them. "…oh…oh well."

The four quizzically turned to him as soon as he had dismissed the glares and whispering that was going on. He simply shrugged and continued up the steps to the tower's entrance. His wife, lovers, and friend (with sister, who is still sleeping), trudged onwards and followed the other male. As he grasped the door handle, a solemn voice called to him.

"Boy…"

--

"Do you think he is ready?" a voice asked.

"He should be. We are to test him and determine how we should proceed from there."

A few 'hmm's' were heard, and then silence drowned the area; only to be interrupted by one of them at the correct time…

--

Naruto spun around when his world began dissolving. His four conscious friends also went into full alert when their surroundings started shifting into a completely different place. Naruto's chakra started climbing and immediately pulled out a couple of tri-pronged kunais.

"Who and how the fu-"

--

As Tsunade opened the doors to the Hokage tower, she noticed that there was no sign of the blonde idiot who dared call her a hag_. 'No sign of him or of Yugito…I wonder if this is the same Yu-chan that he mentioned when we first met…'_ Tsunade's mischievous smile adorned her face. _'I wonder if I can make him pay by embarrassing him in front of his girlfriend…oh yes…I will make him pay…'_

She stood her ground outside the entranceway, and waited for the blonde ninja to approach the area.

--

"-ck did you pull that incredible genjutsu!? Show yourself!"

The five were on their toes. They slowly went back to back and made sure to keep an eye out for any threat that could approach from the shifting environment.

Slowly, the cobbled stone broke down into dirt, then it expanded all around them. The houses and buildings that surrounded the streets, shifted with the dirt, then molded themselves into high walls and seats, and the door to the tower became an iron door that would exit or enter the place where they were now located in.

Hinata and Ino gasped. They instantly recognized the place where they were. "We're inside the Chuunin Stadium…" Hinata spoke. Ino simply nodded at Hinata's statement.

"So…we're not close to where we want to be? And who brought us here?" A perplexed Yugito asked out loud.

"As a diplomatic envoy, I strongly request that you show yourselves." Gaara spoke. "This is could be considered a threat to Sunagakure no Sato! State your purpose and we will not declare this a hostile action against Hidden Sand!" His voice was calm and firm. No hint of nervousness could be perceived.

Slowly, from the shadows of the stadium walls, seven humanoid figures emerged; five male and two female with the silhouette of a large dog walked beside one of the more slender figures. The place where they were now in was in no way illuminated by artificial lights, but as soon as the mysterious people made themselves present in the arena; lights slowly started flickering on.

"Hmm…five on seven…?" Naruto whispered to Yugito. "…alright, whoever looses, has to do _that_."

Yugito shivered for a moment and slowly turned to look into Naruto's eyes. "_T-that_?" she stuttered. Her husband simply nodded and grinned mischievously. "One thing was in Kumo, Naru-kun, but here? You want the looser to do _THAT_?" The stupid grin never left his face. The three conscious others noticed the flustered face on one blonde and turned quizzically to the other. "At least people knew us back there and tended to ignore our antics! Here, it'll be completely awkward!"

"It's fine if you chicken out, Yu-chan…at least I know I can take 'em."

And that sealed the deal. Yugito's face, though red with embarrassment; became serious and focused once more on the threat at hand. Naruto always did know how to push her buttons, ever since they were kids; and calling her a coward was one of them. He attributed to the Nibi's pride as a cat, but then again; his wife was pretty stubborn. _'Just like me.'_

He positioned himself in a relaxed stance, his body facing sideways, while his head faced forwards and back straight. His right arm was in front of him, elbow bent and his hand straight like a knife. His left arm was covering his exposed side, and his left hand mimicked his right.

Yugito disappeared for a second, and appeared once more positioned with her back pressed against her husbands'. She was holding her balance on her right leg, her head facing in the direction that Naruto was looking towards. Her right arm was over her head, bending at the elbow in the direction of her stare, while her left arm was fully extended in the same direction; her hands and fingers forming claws.

The two other girls and redhead were perplexed at how easily the two fell into a synchronized fighting style, but then again, they reasoned that those two had grown up together, trained together, and were married; so it was obvious that a paired fighting style could develop while sparring with other people.

The stadium lights fully illuminated the arena, and slowly faces were revealed. To say that Ino and Hinata were surprised was an understatement, when they saw the clan heads, their fathers, as part of the seven that were in front of them. Hinata and Ino recovered quickly and immediately activated any clan recognition jutus that they were taught in case of impostors in the area. Their surprise turned to shock, when Hinata's **Byakugan** and Ino's **Ichuu Chouin no Jutsu** (1) revealed the two that stood before them, their own flesh and blood.

"Yosugi Yashiro, Bringer of Lightning; also known as Uzumaki Naruto, we are the council of Konoha." Spoke a man with long dark hair and white, pupil-less eyes. Naruto tensed for a moment and narrowed his own at his direction. He had forgotten that many people knew his real name and codename also. "We are aware that you are now a citizen of our beloved village, and we come here with one request…"

"What kind of council would use such a high level genjutsu to not only deceive a new member of their village; but his wife, two ambassadors of Suna, two of their elites, and take them in a completely separate direction from where they wanted to be?" Gaara's interruption sent a series of questions into the minds of the council. Uzumaki had a wife? And what were two ambassadors of Suna doing with him?

"Truth be told, we were not aware of Suna sending an envoy, and for that we apologize; but let it be known that we are not here with an intention to harm any of you; we are here to test Uzumaki Naruto as per required for his shinobi rank that would be assigned to him…" Responded a man with a scar across his face and a pineapple shaped hairstyle. "…but to be completely honest, this is more of a hazing than an exam….so troublesome….and also…married? Is she your wife?" he asked, pointing at Yugito.

The group of six, minus one sleeping girl, tensed entirely and nodded in affirmation; yet stood quiet and listened to what the council wished to speak to them.

"Tsk…even more troublesome. He already has knowledge of a fighting style that is used with a companion. I guess it makes everything more interesting in the end." The scarred man spoke once more.

"What Shikaku-san means…" a man with a long, blonde ponytail spoke next. "…is that the Hokage isn't aware of this test happening right now. But she will be informed of your results against all of us."

"We were witnesses to your strength against the Gobi, Uzumaki-kun…" a beautiful woman with brown, shoulder-length hair and hazel eyes spoke next. "…but we did notice that you relied on different chakra sources other than yours during the battle, so we assume you received help from your tenant…"

Slowly, the five began dropping their guard.

"Kurama-san is right." informed a boisterous voice from the large man with long mane of hair. He was wearing an armor that had the kanji for 'eat' on its chest. "We are forever in debt for you saving our village, but we wish to test the extent of your abilities without you using the borrowed chakra of your tenant."

"Three tenants…" he interrupted them.

Everyone was silent for a moment before Naruto spoke again. "…I only have three chakra sources in me, though. When the time comes, I shall take the powers of the Gobi and have four separate ways to produce said energy, and when that happens; then I guess I'll literally have unlimited chakra."

No one dared to speak. The council was overwhelmed by his statement, and his friends were well aware of what had happened; some of them having been during the power being sealed into Hinata, and others by witnessing the turn of events from afar. "T-three?" asked the other female with crimson tattoos on her face. A large, black dog was standing by her side and motioned to her. She in turn channeled some of her chakra to her nose and reeled back when she realized what she smelling from the boy that stood in front of her. A strong stench of human, weasel, and fox, were present; with the slight smell of dog emanating from him also. "Th-that's impossible…" she stuttered. The blood drained from her face and leaned on her companion. Hiashi Hyuuga immediately activated his **Byakugan** and was amazed at what he was seeing. Three separate chakra sources. A yellow, a blue, and a red one; all intertwined together and running in the most complex and evolved chakra pathways he had ever seen on a human being. His body had three times the amount of pathways than any trained shinobi should, and…is his eyesight deceiving him? He can clearly see a new set of pathways that are being developed, right before his eyes. He jumped from person to person in the area, comparing what he was seeing, and lo! He was just as shocked to see that two more from the group that stood in the center of the arena had a second set of pathways and a second chakra source…and then it happened.

"…by Kami…" he murmured. "…what is the meaning of this…"

His eyes fell on his daughter.

--

Alright guys. This is as much as I can crank out at the moment. I'm still busy and still not over Mx's passing away. I know I lack some action, but Naruto has a good fight coming for him in next chapter, and on top of that, I don't know how the sealing is going to go, do you?

Please read and review. If it wasn't for some of you sending me some words of encouragement, I probably wouldn't have finished this filler chapter.

General Translations:

1.-** Ichuu Chouin no Jutsu**: Mind's Signature Technique. Passed down in the Yamanaka family, the Ichuu Chouin no Jutsu is a seal-less technique used to identify members of their bloodline. By projecting their chakra from their forehead's tenketsu, they can determine if the person's psychic imprint is the same as theirs.


	11. Chapter 10, Rest and Resolutions

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

I'd like to thank a select few, who will remain nameless (you know who you are), who sent me encouraging words to me while in these hard times.

Thank you, and this chapter is for you guys.

--

"…_by Kami…" he murmured. "…what is the meaning of this…?"_

_His eyes fell on his daughter._

_--_

Shocked was an understatement. Hiashi Hyuuga was way beyond that. Many thoughts were running through his head, and all of them were along the lines of _'How did this happen?' 'Why did this happen?' 'Why did this happen to her?' 'Who did this to her?'_ so on and so forth. The rest of the clan heads noticed their fellow leader pale considerably after laying eyes on his daughter and mumbling something under his breath. They all turned to the six that were surrounded and stayed stoic, waiting for Hiashi to speak; or for someone else to speak up.

Hinata sensed her father inspect her. She felt his Byakugan probe her being and she knew what was going on through his head. Taking the initiative, she spoke over all the ones who were present. "At the moment…" she began. "…the Hyuuga Clan Head has become aware of a situation that may place in jeopardy my ascension as the future leader of my clan and family members after his retirement; but let it be known, father, that my current situation will not reflect poorly on my performance as an ANBU Captain."

"Hinata, what happened?" he interrupted with anger and shock in his voice. "Why is there a second set of chakra pathways in your system…and what is…?" His statement shocked all who were not present during the sealing of the Gobi's powers. He dared not finish asking the question; he didn't want to know why there were high concentrations of elemental chakra in different parts of Hinata's physique. Earth on her arms; Wind and Water on her legs; Lightning on her back; Fire on her heart. _'What does this mean?'_

"That would be a question that I can answer…"

All eyes turned to the now relaxed blonde man in the traveling group. "I have given Hinata-chan a gift, if you may. At the moment, she houses the penta-elemental chakra of the Gobi."

--

There's an old saying in Konoha's Torture and Interrogation squad: 'Silence is Golden, yet Duck Tape is Silver.' At the moment, in the Chuunin Arena, no one dared to speak after Naruto's statement regarding the state of Hinata's possession of the five-tailed demon's chakra.

Yugito placed her hand over her husband's shoulder and gave him a reassuring squeeze. She knew that something like this would happen, just not immediately after their arrival. There were going to be questions…many questions to be answered, and she would be there, next to her husband to help him carry the weight of the consequences. Her husband responded to her affection by placing his hand over her own and opening his fingers. They intertwined their digits and rested the hands once more over his shoulder.

--

Ino was the first to break the silence that reigned on the field. "Honorable Council of Konoha…" She opened her statement. "…as you had mentioned, you are here to present the Shinobi Rank Examination for Uzumaki Naruto, but as future Clan Head, I request that it be postponed; assign the exam in four days' time. There is something that requires his attention with utmost importance, for it is regarding the Suna ambassadors that are present." She motioned to Gaara, who shifted his sleeping sister carefully on his back to a more comfortable position up front on his chest.

The statement opening had snapped the council's attention back to full. As she finished her petition, eyes closed and they began to think what they had been told.

"This matter is regarding my sister." The stoic voice of the redhead in the group spoke. "Her health is deteriorating, and Uzumaki-sama has the knowledge in seals necessary to help her." Eyes snapped open at the Kazekage's sons' referral to the blonde.

Hinata joined in. "Uzumaki-kun has fought and bled for this village the same day he was allowed to come back as a resident. He was mortally wounded fighting the Houkou no Gobi, and not a week has passed by and is now forced to prove himself once more as a capable shinobi that fights for the Leaf? Allow him to rest for a few days. Besides, I believe his Ranking Examination is something the village wouldn't mind attending."

The seven Clan Heads that formed part of the council nodded in agreement to the reasoning behind their statements. One by one left the arena and Akimichi Chouza escorted the brown-haired Clan Head out through the gates of the enclosed battlefield. Hiashi Hyuuga stayed stoic, still inspecting the rapidly generating chakra pathway in his daughter's body_. 'For a woman in the clan to have such an incredible amount of chakra…if this can be passed onto future generations…it's a blessing! But…if it's not, she would still be on par with my own chakra storages from when I was at my peak, or with Negi's…'_ "Hinata…" he spoke. "…the council has, as you can see, agreed to the request that was placed upon us. We shall conduct the examination for shinobi ranking at the end of the week." his eyes shifted once more to the blonde in question. "Uzumaki Naruto, please report to the ANBU examination court, on the south end of Konoha's Training Area 44 at ten in the morning, in four days' time. You will be escorted there by Hinata Hyuuga."

With that, he disappeared out of sight.

--

A long drawn-out sigh was shared by the group of five plus one sleeping princess. They all turned to face each other, and nervously kept their attention to their surroundings, fearing they might receive more surprises in this evening. Light had finally faded, allowing the darkness of night swallow the heavens whole, leaving the moon and stars as markers in the black sky.

"Ino-chan, Hinata-chan; you two should head back to your respective homes, as I will be doing with Yugito-chan." Naruto then turned to Gaara and spoke. "You and your sister are more than welcome to spend the night at my place. I just received my living quarters and I would assume it would be better than staying in a hotel room."

Gaara simply nodded in agreement with the blond. With his sister in need of dire attention as soon as Naruto can fully focus on her, he'd rather have him close by than having to track him down throughout the village if something were to happen. He then turned to the other blonde and brunette that stood next to him and bid them good night.

Ino and Hinata dismissed themselves to their own respective households, promising to meet up with each Naruto and the others come morning. Ino knew where Naruto's new home was located, so she informed Hinata as they retreated, who raised an eyebrow to the fact that the Namikaze estate was given to a foreign shinobi.

--

The four foreigners reached the estate, but were all mentally tired from the recent situations that have happened and the task that the council had placed over his head the moment he stepped foot into the village. Each went to the second story of the building, and found a couple of bedrooms and a master bedroom. Gaara bid the two good night, as he stepped inside and took one of the guest rooms so he could lay his sister on the bed. He in turn, inspected the room and was amazed at the quality and contents of it. There was only one word that would describe it: beautiful. A mahogany, bed frame with dark blue silk sheets and down pillows lay next to a window on the left wall. A nightstand was to the left of the bed, and in front of the glass exit, a matching styled wooden chair and desk. She, after having been sleeping all day, didn't move an inch, and kept snoozing lightly; something Gaara had never seen her do since the demon had been sealed into his baby sister.

He smiled at the new sight before him, and tucked a stray strand of hair from her face behind her ear and kissed her forehead, "Good night, Tema-chan. I hope you have sweet dreams." and with a nimble arm, he deftly placed a blanket over his sisters' body. He'd want this to be the most comfortable first sleep experience for her.

Gaara then sat cross-legged at the foot of the bed, leaned his back to the wooden frame and began thinking of how his and his sister's life would change starting tomorrow. A small smile crept to his face as the heaviness in his eyelids became too much and he fell to a peaceful slumber.

--

The master bedroom was impressive. It was large enough to have at least fifty people inside with enough walking space between furniture.

A four post bed, made of oak was placed against the center far wall, hugged by two huge windows. There was a drawer and a dresser to the right wall, and to the left, the master bathroom, which was its own room by itself, with a large tub on one wall and a walk-in shower at the other. Inside the bathroom, an additional walk-in closet to the back end of the room, with a double sink to the left; a garden tub to the right, with a separate shower next to it; overall, a very fancy bedroom and amenities.

Naruto let out a whistle as he inspected his new living quarters, while Yugito procured a scroll and unsealed a duffel bag. She retrieved a few toiletries and proceeded to walk into the bathroom. A small hop to her step let Naruto know that she was a bit anxious and wanted to enjoy fully a warm, relaxing shower.

Lying down on the floor next to his new bed, the blond shinobi sighed deeply as he closed his eyes. Too much had within the span of a couple of weeks. The Gobi, him almost dying, the sealing of the five-tails' chakra unto someone else…

'_I still need to explain to Hinata-chan what that entails…I hope she can cope with it…'_

…new house, another sealing that needed to be done ASAP…and now, a Shinobi Examination; which with no doubt, it was to be a show that he must put up for the village he swore to protect when leaving to Kumogakure.

The blond scrunched his face and slowly undid the braid that kept his hair. "Man, I seriously don't know if there is anything that can help this day get any better than what it already is." he sighed once more. There were just too many things going on at the same time. He just wished for some peace, and quiet, and…

'_Naru-kun…!'_

That voice…

'_Naru-kun…!'_

Yes…that voice…the same voice that he came to love to listen throughout the past few years snapped him out of his trance. If there was anyone who could make him feel better in anyway, it was her. He smiled as the memories flooded his tired being…

'_Naru-kun, come on! When we get home, I'll cook you ramen for dinner!'_

'_Naru-kun…let me wash your back!'_

'_Gosh, Naru-kun…if father catches you looking like that, he'll tie you up by your pinkie toes again and hang you from the ceiling for an hour!'_

"_I love you, Yugito…" _

"And I love you too, Naruto."

Naruto snapped open his eyes, only to see his fiancée kneeling over him. She was wrapped in a single blue-grey towel, the scent of daffodils permeating her being; her hair dripping water from the recent wash it went through. Her lips were almost to his, he could feel her breath over his mouth. She leaned forward and captured his lips in a kiss of her own. It only lasted for a few seconds; bit the strength of the passion behind it wasn't lost to either of them. They had been separated for almost a month, due to her being on an extended mission, and when she came back, he had already departed back to his country of origin; leaving her with her half of the promise to catch up as soon as she returned.

She smiled at his blissful, yet tired expression. Yugito could sense he was exhausted; physically and emotionally. The past few days had been an emotional rollercoaster for everyone, especially for him. She took Naruto's hair and started passing her fingers through it, combing the mass of golden strands that rivaled hers in length.

"Mmmm…" Naruto let out a small moan of pleasure. He had always enjoyed it when Yugito played with her hair, but he loved it even more when she…oh yes…she was doing it. "Mmmmmmm…right there…"

Yugito could understand why, after having your hair pulled into a tight braid, a scalp massage feels great; but her ball of sunshine here…he preferred to get his scalp scratched gently, and she would always take the initiative to do so.

"Naru-kun, come; let me wash your back so we can go to bed."

…

"Naru-kun…?"

She was silent for a moment, before her mouth broke into a small smile. Listening to the sounds of light snoozing coming from the worn-out figure that was at her knees, Yugito came to the conclusion that her blond in question was out cold.

The towel-clad girl quietly rose to her feet and tip-toed to the unsealed duffel bag, and retrieved her pajamas, which were simple dark grey pants and shirt with the decorations of five foxes on her left pants' leg, running around chasing each other; and four more on the front end of her shirt, over the left side of her stomach, playing with each other. She slipped her nightly attire on and walked back to the sleeping boy on the other side of the room.

She sighed as she leaned against the bed frame and gently lifted his head and placed it on her thighs, making sure that his hair wouldn't get in the way first; Yugito fell asleep stroking her future husbands' hair.

--

A small hand patted tufts of red hair over and over. She had been at it for at least an hour, and she was surprised her brother hadn't woken up. Temari smiled for the first time in a long time, her emerald eyes shone with vibrant energy she didn't know she had! She couldn't remember what it was like to sleep, and she felt that she could get addicted to it if she weren't careful.

"Nii-san…" she whispered as she pulled another ribbon from god knows where. "Nii-san, are you awake?" Gaara seemed to truly be asleep, and she could understand why he would be so tired. He would always be by her side every night, always sharing the pain of her insomnia, but now…there was nothing there to wake her up…it was like the voice she heard in her head quieted down and gave her peace and quiet for the first time in so many years. Another ribbon made its way to the ever growing mini-ponytails that were sprouting in weird angles from her brothers' head.

'_Thank you, Nii-san, for everything you've ever done for me.'_

Why do kids always have the weirdest ways to thank adults?

--

Naruto stirred for a moment, his consciousness daring to leave him once more. He moved around the hard bed that he had lain across last night, finding only comfort in the full body pillow that was under his head. _'Really, the Fourth was an eccentric man, this bed is hard as wood…although this pillow feels oddly weird.'_

He searched for the covers, but couldn't find them, all he could do to shield himself from the daring rays of light that were striking his eyelids was to cover himself with the pillow, or in this case, the pillowcase. _'Must be one of those body pillows…' he thought. '…the pillowcase opens in the middle…'_ so he stuck his head inside said case. It wasn't until his cheek met with two fleshy mounds that he realized there was something fishy about this pillow he was using. For some reason, it smelled of daffodils, and there weren't any flowers inside the house that he could smell or see when they came in last night. Then, the consistency was really off; it was soft, yet firm…and then the fleshy mounds…_'…just…what am I lying over?'_ So he did the only thing that could possibly solve this enigma.

He cracked open his eyes.

The result was immediate. He had no idea why he was underneath Yugito's shirt, staring at her very, _very_ perfect and naked breasts; nor what she was doing underneath him.

A giggle made him freeze on the spot and his breath hitched on his throat. "Enjoying the view, Nauto-kun?"

He blushed. He really was enjoying the view he was receiving, yet he didn't want to admit it. Although the temperature of his face pressed against her legs might give it away; so he answered in the way he knew would get a rise out of her.

He moved slowly. He let out slow and calculated breaths. He pushed the warm air that came from his mouth and directed it to her bare abdomen. Yugito felt this, and made no move to stop him, Naruto's warm breath sending shivers up and down her spine.

The jinchuuriki's face drew closer and closer, up until his mouth touched her firm, yet soft belly. He placed his lips onto it. Yugito let out a small moan. Her hands went underneath the fabric and entangled themselves in Naruto's hair.

She bit her lip. Naruto smiled.

THBBTH!

--

Gaara awoke eerily refreshed. He noticed his sister was standing in front of the full-sized mirror inside the closet door. He did notice that she was wearing something completely different, and way to big to be hers. The closet, he assumed, had dresses and other accessories Temari was playing around with. He did notice that there was some makeup on her. Not that much, just enough to make her face look a bit more flushed, a pink-ish hue adorned her usually pale lips, and her eyelashes seemed fuller. _'Hmm…that's odd. I didn't know she could apply make-up on herself. I'll see about getting her some later during the day.' _He smiled. Her sister never did have the opportunity to play around much back in Suna. Most dresses were also not as the ones in Konoha. He could see that she was having fun, so he waited for a few minutes, staring at the new baby sister that stood smiling, laughing, and talking like a regular child should.

--

Temari was having the time of her life. She didn't know whose room this was, but being how her brother was here, it was all ok.

After she woke up, she explored the new room and found that inside the closet, there were multiple dresses and yukatas for all occasions. She found some make-up, and ribbons, and bobby pins; amongst other things.

Now, she didn't really know how to put make-up on. Back in Suna, it wasn't customary to wear it. The hot weather there would cause any sort of non-shinobi grade face paints to run easily with the sweat of simply being in the country, so it wasn't imported often. She had seen it used before with the wives of people that had come visit her father a few times. She found it pretty, but it came back to the original problem.

She didn't know how to apply it. But then again, her brother was there. He wouldn't mind if she tried the stuff on him while he was asleep, would he?

Of course not!

So she got to work and applied some make-up on her sleeping sibling. She really didn't know what she was doing, but she had seen people walk around with the stuff on them, so she tried…

…and tried…

…and tried…

…until she got bored of trying; then went for the ribbons. She liked ribbons, and felt that white would look good on his brother's hair. After all, his face was mostly white now, with some orange, and blue, and black, and red, and more black on it.

She admired her job, and patted herself on the back. 'I couldn't have done it better on the first try!' she told herself. It was then, when she took the make-up and applied it to herself.

Temari then placed her attention on all the dresses that were hanging in the dresser. She started wearing one after another, admiring herself in the full-length mirror inside the door after each one was hastily donned.

It was in one of those, that she noticed her brother smiling at her and turned around hastily. "Onii-san! You're awake!"

She was having fun, he could tell. Temari didn't have these kinds of dresses and amounts of them back home. Gaara promised to himself, that once the sealing was all over, he'd have to remedy that.

"Hai, hai, Tema-chan. You look good, but those attires aren't yours. Put them back where they belong and later we can pick some of your own, ok?"

"Hai, nii-san."

She didn't change back into her original yukata immediately, but she did hang up some of the stuff she had laid on the bed first. Gaara stood up and stretched for a moment, popping the bones on his back.

And then he saw what his sister wasn't letting him see when she was in front of the mirror.

--

Two loud male voices pierced the morning peace with their high pitched screams, both at the same time, yet each for their own reasons.

--

**A/N**: Well, I guess this is the latest chapter of Living Shrine. It's been a while since I've been able to hop on my computer and simply type. Today, I literally did over half of the chapter. Unfortunately, it's a tad short, only 3,606 words long, not counting the Author Notes.

This is mainly a filler chapter. Hopefully, I'll be able to keep on working on this throughout the week. I have the rest planned out, bit with little time to actually use the computer for whatever, I can't advance fast enough on Living Shrine.

And to top it off, I still need to work on my deceased cousin's story: A Story to Tell. *sigh* I'll do what I can.

In any case, have a good one and please Read and Review. The more reviews, the better my inspiration. Flames will be used to light my cigarettes.

-seilif a.k.a. MxSavior


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